what are pathogens '
In biology, a pathogen (Greek: ÏÎ¬Î¸Î¿Ï pathos âsuffering, passionâ and -Î³ÎµÎ½Î®Ï -genÄs âproducer ofâ) in the oldest and broadest sense is anything that can produce disease, a term which came into use in the 1880s.he host may be an animal, a plant, a fungus, or even another microorganism. There are several substrates including pathways where the pathogens can invade a host. The principal pathways have different episodic time frames, but soil contamination has the longest or most persistent potential for harboring a pathogen.