Chapter 37.1, Problem 5MI

Summary Introduction

To determine:

The experimental step to identify the virus that caused bird flu.

Introduction:

Koch’s postulate: According to the Koch’s postulate describe the conditions, in which a bacterium can be considered as a possible pathogen for a particular disease.

Following are the conditions of Koch’s postulates:

1. The infectious bacteria should be present in all individuals having a specific disease.
2. The bacteria must be grown in pure culture and should be isolated from one host only.
3. The disease must be reproduced when a culture of pure bacterium is inoculated into a susceptible host.

Explanation of Solution

The experimental steps for the identification of the bird flu virus.

1. Check for the birds if they have similar symptoms.
2. Obtain sample from the chicken blood and culture the sample.
3. After culture identify the viral proteins or genome using probe.
4. Isolate the viral genome an inoculate it into a chicken and see if the virus is producing the same symptoms as it was present in the chicken sample taken from.