Chapter 36
Supplemental Quiz Questions

1. Why is smallpox thought to be a likely weapon of bioterrorists? Are there additional reasons resulting from the recent eradication of the virus from the current worldwide list of infectious diseases.

2. DNA viruses pose an additional problem to eukaryotic hosts in addition to the cytopathic effects and potential cell lysis. Explain their role in latency, chronic infection and mutational events leading to cancer.

3. Explain why influenza remains a real threat to human health. What characteristics of the virus make it a good pathogen? Why have scientists not been able to irradicate influenza through a vaccination program, as they have with smallpox?

4. Describe the infection process of RNA viruses. How is it different from DNA viruses? Is there an advantage in being an RNA virus?

5. A "good" viral pathogen ensures its passage to another host before it kills its current one. Explain how HIV is a "good" viral pathogen while Ebola is not.

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