Koch postulates


Koch pos·tu·lates

(kok), a statement of the four steps providing evidence that a pathogenic microorganism is the cause of a disease. 1) The microorganism must be present in all cases of the disease. 2) It must be isolated from the diseased host and grown in pure culture. 3) This culture must reproduce the disease in a new host. 4) The microorganism must in turn be found and cultured from this new host. Synonym(s): Koch law

Koch pos·tu·lates

(kok postyū-lăts) The four steps that prove a pathogenic microorganism is the cause of a disease. 1) Microorganism must be present in all cases of the disease. 2) It must be isolated from the diseased host and grown in pure culture. 3) This culture must reproduce the disease in a new host. 4) The microorganism must be found and cultured from this new host.
Synonym(s): Koch law.

Koch,

Robert, German bacteriologist and Nobel laureate, 1843-1910. Koch bacillus - (1) a species that causes tuberculosis. Synonym(s): Mycobacterium tuberculosis; - (2) a species that causes cholera. Synonym(s): Vibrio choleraeKoch blue bodies - schizonts of Theileria parva, the causative agent of East Coast fever.Koch law - Synonym(s): Koch postulatesKoch old tuberculinKoch original tuberculinKoch phenomenon - infection immunity.Koch postulates - to establish the specificity of a pathogenic microorganism, it must be present in all cases of the disease; inoculations of its pure cultures must produce disease in animals, and from these it must be again obtained and be propagated in pure cultures. Synonym(s): Koch lawKoch-Weeks bacillus - a species found in the respiratory tract; causes acute respiratory infections. Synonym(s): Haemophilus influenzae; Weeks bacillus