Bacterial Toxins and Bioterrorism

Authors

Nehama Prus

Abstract

Bacterial toxins are some of the most potent substances known to man. Bacterial toxins are microbial poisons that profoundly affect the establishment and course of disease, because a single toxin can greatly increase the virulence of an organism (Alcamo, 1994). Organisms have the ability to attach to and colonize mucosal surfaces in the body, eventually invading deeper tissues. However, their ability to cause human disease is often determined by their ability to form and excrete microbial toxins (Murray, 1994). Many emerging and reemerging bacterial pathogens synthesize toxins that serve as primary virulence factors (Schmitt et al, 1999).

Recommended Citation

Nehama Prus. (2007). Bacterial Toxins and Bioterrorism. The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences, 1(1), 27-40. Retrieved from https://touroscholar.touro.edu/sjlcas/vol1/iss1/4