microbe

1. (microbiology) Any microorganism; (loosely, nonscientifically) especially, a harmful bacterium.Examples: "We humans and other complex animals are full of microbes, gajillions of them. People have so many that microbe cells living in our bodies outnumber our own vastly."; "Yes, there are microbes everywhere and most are just fine for us, perhaps even beneficial to our microbiomes and immune systems. We don’t care about those."