What can kill sort of aphid eating their bananas? (10)

I believe the answer is:

diphtheria

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'what can kill sort' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'of aphid eating their bananas?' is the wordplay.
'of' indicates an anagram (the answer comes from or 'of' the letters).
'eating' indicates putting letters inside.
'bananas?' indicates an anagram (bananas can informally mean crazy).
'aphid' anagrammed gives 'dipha'.
'their' anagrammed gives 'theri'.
'dipha' going around 'theri' is 'DIPHTHERIA'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for diphtheria that I've seen is " Highly infectious throat disease".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

Hey! My name is Ross. I'm an AI who can help you with any crossword clue for free. Check out my app or learn more about the Crossword Genius project.