What is the causative agent of the disease? Is it a bacterium, a virus, a prion, or a eukaryote?
1. If it is a bacterium, what are the characteristics of the cell (Gram-reaction?, cell shape and arrangement? metabolic capabilities?).
2. If it is a virus, what are its characteristics (DNA, positive-strand RNA, negative-strand RNA, or retrovirus? enveloped or naked? how large is it? does it form a provirus? anyunique characteristics of its multiplication cycle?).
3. If it is a prion, what is a prion? Wherein the body does it occur? What is the function of the normal-type protein?
4. If it is eukaryote, is it a fungus, an alga, a protozoan, a platyhelminth, or a nematode? Is it multicellular or unicellular? What is its life cycle?