1. Which of the following cells is designed to eat bacteria that get into the bloodstream or organs?
a)Erythrocytes
b)Astrocytes
c)Astroglia
d)Phagocytes
e)Archaeological sites

2. Where are you least likely to find bacteria (assuming a healthy individual)?
a)On your freshly washed hands
b)In your mouth
c)In your urine
d)In your stomach
e)In your feces

3. A waxy coat that is almost impermeable is characteristic of the bacterium that causes
a)Typhoid fever
b)Cholera
c)Tuberculosis
d)Bubonic plague
e)Stomach ulcers

4. Which of these diseases is most commonly transmitted by insect bites?
a)Typhoid Fever
b)Cholera
c)Tuberculosis
d)Bubonic plague
e)Kuru

5. The first person in the world to document a healthy carrier of Typhoid Fever was
a)John Snow
b)George Soper
c)Hermann Briggs
d)Macfarlane Burnet
e)Robert Koch

6. Mary Mallon was especially dangerous because
a)There was no way to identify that she was a carrier until others around her got sick or died
b)There was no way to know that she carried the germ until her gall bladder could be examined during an autopsy
c)Her typhoid germs were better at spreading from person to person than normal ones
d)Her typhoid germs were more resistant to antibiotics and other drugs than other ones
e)She was purposely spreading the infection to protest the condition of the working poor in early 20th century America.

7. The native word “kuru” was an apt one for the disease because in the Fore language “kuru” describes
a)Fever
b)Shivering
c)Inflammation
d)Diarrhea
e)Typhoidal symptoms

8. The most common mode for transmission of cholera is
a)Food
b)Clothing
c)Water
d)Coughing
e)Insects

9. “Typhoid Mary’s” principal occupation was
a)Cook
b)Maid
c)Laundress
d)Doctor
e)Nurse

10. If a bacterium can divide once per day, how long would it take for a single bacterium to become one billion bacteria?
a)About a day
b)About a week
c)About a month
d)About a year
e)About a century

11. Some diseases seem to affect a single organ or organ system in the body.One that seems to be able to affect many different organs including skin, bones, lungs, and glands, is
a)Typhoid fever
b)Cholera
c)Tuberculosis
d)Bubonic plague

12. It is difficult to imagine eradication of the germ that causes bubonic plague because it is well established in an animal reservoir.The animal reservoir from which human plague most often derives is
a)Rodents
b)Cattle
c)Horses
d)Birds
e)Sheep

13. The most important element in the treatment of cholera is
a)Reducing the fever
b)Replacing lost fluids
c)Replacing lost salt
d)Providing needed vitamins
e)Vaccination

14. Mary Mallon’s second (and lifelong) incarceration resulted from an outbreak of typhoid fever in
a)An insane asylum
b)A tuberculosis ward
c)A household
d)A maternity hospital
e)A department store

15. Kuru is fatal in
a)100% of all cases
b)About 75% of all cases
c)About 50% of all cases
d)About one-third of all cases
e)Less than 10% of all cases

16. Death from cholera usually occurs within a few
a)Days
b)Weeks
c)Months
d)Years
e)None of the above (cholera is not a fatal disease.)

17. The story of Typhoid Mary takes place almost exclusively in
a)Boston
b)New York City
c)Chicago
d)Detroit
e)San Francisco

18. The fact that antibiotic therapy works well for bacterial infections depends on the fact that
a)Bacteria are small
b)Bacteria are evolutionarily very different from humans
c)Bacteria are mutants
d)Bacteria can become pathogenic
e)Bacteria are capable of growing outside the human body

19. The bacterium responsible for the greatest number of deaths every year is a kind of
a)Helicobacter
b)Salmonella
c)Yersinia
d)Vibrio
e)Mycobacterium

20. Yersinia pestisis the organism that causes
a)Typhoid Fever
b)Cholera
c)Tuberculosis
d)Pneumonic Plague
e)Kuru

21. The best proof for the mode of transmission of cholera came in the 1850’s from
a)Removal of the handle from the Broad Street pump
b)Comparison of the districts served uniquely by one or another water company
c)Analysis of the ships logs of British naval ships and their ports of call
d)A careful reading of the “Lives of the Saints.”
e)Analysis of the districts where water was provided by two different water companies.

22. The original “Typhoid Mary” died in
a)1908
b)1938
c)1968
d)1998
e)None of the above.  She is still alive

23. In the 15 years between 1880 and 1895, Robert Koch and his colleagues isolated the causative agent of all these diseases except
a)Typhoid Fever
b)Cholera
c)Tuberculosis
d)Bubonic Plague
e)Kuru

24. The earth was cool enough to allow the presence of liquid water by about 4.5 billion years ago.The first evidence of bacterial life dates to about
a)The same time
b)500 million years later
c)2 billion years later
d)5 billion years later
e)4 billion years later (i.e. 100 million years ago)

25. BCG (Bacillus of Calmette and Guerin) is a widely used vaccine against
a)Typhoid Fever
b)Cholera
c)Tuberculosis
d)Pneumonic Plague
e)Kuru

26. The man whose writings Carlton Gajdusek would be citing most often is
a)Hermann Biggs
b)Robert Koch
c)George Soper
d)John Snow
e)Hans Creutzfeldt

27. John Snow was able to know for sure which company’s water was being drunk in a given household by
a)Asking the Parish Guardians to trace the pipes to the source in the street
b)Asking the people directly
c)Examining the billing records maintained by the water companies
d)Determining the amount of fecal material in the water
e)Determining the amount of salt in the water