L'alchimista moderno

As every year, during the last days, in Italy, several cases of bird flu in chickens were notified by Ministry of Health. Although it affects mainly poultry and other avian species, this disease is described as a zoonosis, in other words a disease that can be transmitted, occasionally and under specific conditions, from animals to humans. The transmission of the disease can occur directly, via biological infected material of animal origin (skin, eggs, blood, mucus), or indirectly, through ingestion of contaminated food or transmission of the pathogen through a vector. From this first description, it is evident that the risk is highest for people who work directly in contact with animals (veterinarians and farmers, for example). Even pets, and of course the wild animals, can be a source of infection for humans. Zoonoses transmitted through the ingestion of contaminated food are also very common, such as the famous salmonellosis. Outbreaks of zoonotic diseases involving animals des...

There is a small microrganism, know as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, which  is able to infect people with cystic fibrosis. Well, recently it was seen how it is able to eliminate competition of other bacteria through injection of a lethal toxin. In fact, the competition between bacteria is a very cruel fight, of course compared to their nature and size. Not far in time, there was talk of bacteria, especially since he took the headlines of newspapers a particular strain of Escherichia coli that has caused several deaths in Germany and other European countries. But what about of bacteria?