Opportunistic pathogens are usually present in healthcare settings as hospitals. Such pathogens cause opportunistic diseases that they do not usually cause under normal conditions.

Where are pathogens most likely to be found?

They inhabit virtually every environment on the planet and the bacteria carried by an average human, mostly in their gut, outnumber human cells. The vast majority of microbes are harmless to us, and many play essential roles in plant, animal and human health.

What are opportunistic pathogens?

Opportunistic pathogens are a group of microorganisms that do not usually infect healthy hosts but produce infections in hospitals, to immunodepressed persons or those patients presenting underlying diseases as cystic fibrosis, which favors infection (Koch and Hoiby, 1993).