Disease Causing Bacteria

There is only a small amount of bacterial species that causes human disease. The table below shows main and common disease causing bacteria.

Name of Bacteria

Disease Bacteria Cause

Aeromonas caviae, Aeromonas hydrophila, Aeromonas sobria

Gastroenteritis

Wound infections

Bacillus anthracis

Anthrax

Bacillus cereus and other bacillus spp.

Vomiting or Diarrhea

Bartonellosis Henselae

Cat Scratch Disease

Bordetella pertussis

" Wooping Cough"

Pertussis

Borrelia burgdorferi

Lyme Disease

Brucella spp.

Brucellosis

Campylobacter jejuni

Campylobacteriosis

Chlamydia psittaci

Parrot Fever or Psittacosis

Chlamydia trachomatis

Urethritis

Genital infections

Cervicitis

Clostridium botulinum

Botulism

Clostridium tetani

Tetanus or Lockjaw

Coxiella burnetii

Q fever

Corynebacterium diphtheriae

Diphtheria

Enterohemmorrhagic: E. coli 0157:H7 (EHEC)

Hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS)

Hemorrhagic colitis

Enteropathogenic: E. coli (EPEC)

Diarrhea

Enterotoxigenic: E. coli (EIEC)

Gastroenteritis

Enteroinvasive: E. coli (EIEC)

Bacillary dysentery

Ehrlichia chaffeensis

Diarrheal illness

Enterics misc.-- Aerobacter, Citrobacter, Enterobacter, Klebsiella, Providencia, Proteus, Serratia

Diarrheal illness

Francisella tularensis

Tularemia

Haemophilus ducreyi

Chancroid

Human Genital Ulcer Disease

Haemophilus influenzae

Invasive Disease

Bacterial pneumonia

Meningitis,

Legionella pneunophila

Legionnaires Disease

Listeria monocytogenes

Listeriosis

Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Tuberculosis

Mycobacterium leprae

Hansen's Disease or Leprosy

Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Gonorrhea

Neisseria meningitidis

Meningococcal Disease

Plesiomonas shigelloides

Gastroenteritis

Rickettsia rickettsii

Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

Salmonella spp. including S. enteritidis and S. typhimurium

Salmonellosis

Salmonella typhi

Typhoid Fever

Shegella boydii, Shegella dysenteriae, Shegella flexneri, Shegella sonnei

Shigellosis

Staphylococcus aureus

Vancomycin-intermediate

Vancomycin-resistant

Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A Streptococcal Infections Group or GAS)

Strep throat

Impetigo

More invasive: Bacteremia (bacteria in the blood), Necrotizing fasciitis (commonly called flesh-eating disease), Toxic shock syndrome, Streptococcal Toxic-Shock Syndrome (STSS)

Streptococcus Group D: S. avium, S. durans, S. faecalis, S. faecium, S. bovis

Diarrheal illness

Streptococcus pneumoniae

Acute otitis media

Drug-Resistant Invasive Disease (DRSP)

Pneumonia

Bacteremia

Meningitis

Invasive Disease Non-Drug Resistant such as Invasive Pneumococcal Disease (in children less than 5 years old)

Treponema pallidum

Syphilis

Congnital syphilis

Vibrio spp. (non-cholera species)

Vibriosis

Vibrio cholerae

Cholera

Vibrio haemolyticus

Vulnificus

Yersinia pseudotuberculosis, Yersinia enterocolitica

Yersiniosis

Yersinia pestis

the Plague

Killing bacteria by using heat such as pasteurization and sterilization is really a good way to prevent bacterial infection. If bacterial infections take place, antibiotics may be used by doctors as a treatment. However, in recent years, overuse of antibiotics makes the bacteria develop strains which are resistant to antibiotics like Mycobacterium tuberculosis, causing tuberculosis.