When his boss called to complain that the time-sensitive documents he was waiting for still hadn't arrived, Victor worried that the courier responsible for delivery may secretly be on their competitor's payroll and had sabotaged them on purpose.
Virulence factors are molecules produced by pathogens (bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa) that contribute to the pathogenicity of the organism and enable them to achieve the following: 1  colonization of a niche in the host (this includes attachment to cells). 2  immunoevasion, evasion of the host's immune response.
1. May have a capsule. Not all bacterial cells have a capsule but when it is present it is a major virulence factor. The capsule includes the K-antigen. 2. May have an outer membrane which is the outer surface of the cell or, in the case of encapsulated strains, lies just underneath the capsule. This has a trilaminar appearance.