Pollen

Pollen is a very atrocious pathogen. It infects both animals and plants.

This is the image of pollen. Sporting the unmistakable look of a tiny troublemaker.

Ecology

Pathogens commonly target only specific species. For example, with avian influenza, basically only birds are infected, and with BSE, basically only cattle. On the other hand, pollen completely deviates from this common sense and has atrocious properties that can infect humans, animals, and even plants.

Infection with pollen causes hay fever at a high rate. Death is very rare, but the symptoms are quite painful. People have been trying to eradicate pollen for many years, but unfortunately, hay fever is still prevalent every year.

Target

Human being

One of the targets of pollen is humans - us. When humans are infected with pollen, symptoms develop mainly in the nose, eyes, throat, and skin. Specifically, sneezing, runny nose, itchy and bloodshot eyes, throat discomfort, and itchy skin are the main symptoms, which may be accompanied by fatigue and insomnia. Unlike the so-called "killer pathogens", it does not cause extremely severe symptoms such as cardiopulmonary arrest, but it clearly has a level of severity that interferes with daily life. Pollen is a dangerous pathogen.

Dogs & Cats

Pollen also targets pets such as dogs and cats. Symptoms of pollen infection in dogs and cats include dermatitis, otitis externa, bronchitis, and rhinitis, which differ slightly from human symptoms, which are mainly sneezing. Although there are still almost no cases of death due to hay fever, if any of the above symptoms are observed, the animal should be promptly taken to a veterinary clinic for appropriate treatment.

Plants

Pollen targets even include plants. "Infectious diseases of plants" may be unfamiliar to some, but examples include mosaic disease and yellowing disease, two well-known diseases that farmers and horticultural enthusiasts are not unfamiliar with. Hay fever is one of them, causing severe symptoms in plants.

Pollen initially attaches to the pistil head of the plant's stamen. It then penetrates the plant's internal structure through a tube called a pollen tube, reaching a crucial part called the hypocotyl, where it binds to the cell nucleus. Unfortunately, the pollen-infected hypocotyl is no longer a hypocotyl, it gradually becomes swollen, eventually destined to be discharged.

This is so serious a symptom that it is the plants that are most in danger when infected with pollen.