This course provides an overview of basic microbiology concepts in the context of biosafety. The first section of the course looks at each category of microorganism, prions and toxins, and examines their characteristics. The second section looks more closely at the characteristics required for a micro-organism to be considered a human and/or animal pathogen. 3. The third section looks at factors that influence the relationship between a host and a pathogen.
This course is intended for people working in laboratories / laboratory personnel, those involved in designing or managing containment facilities, biosafety professionals, or those with an interest in biosafety.
After completing this course, learners will be able to:
- Given a microorganism or toxin, identify its characteristics
- Given the description of a micro-organism, identify its main characteristics
- Given the description of a pathogen, identify its type
- Given a factor that causes disease, identify it as intrinsic or extrinsic
This course will take approximately 30-45 minutes to complete.
Course updated in February 2018.