Biological agents

Background
Biological agents include living organisms (plants, animals, microbes, fungi,...), viruses or infectious proteins (prions) or biological material originating from it. This broad term covers pathogenic micro-organisms that cause infectious diseases (like Legionnaires’ disease, caused by Legionella or Q-fever, caused by Coxiella burnetii,...), as well as metabolic compounds like aflatoxins, endotoxins, dead cells and bigger structures as skin flakes or grain dust. Biological agents can cause a large variety of health effects (infection, toxic reaction, allergic reaction, cancer,...).

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