An Old Plague Coming Back to Haunt Us. The Environment Envir. An Old Plague Coming Back to Haunt Us.
Diphtheria can be a very serious infection.
Diptheria is normally an infection of the throat caused by a bacterium, Corynebacterium diphtheriae . The bacteria grow in our throats and produce a protein. This protein causes our cells to die by stopping protein production by our cells. This bacterial protein is called diphtheria toxin . The first symptom of infection is very sore throat.