The volume of materials that may be weaponized from this category is immense and each requires varying degrees of knowledge, skills, and abilities to create and employ. After reading this week’s course material and a small amount of cursory research on my own, I chose to use the bacterium, Yersinia pestis which can be employed as a biological agent and causes either pneumonic, bubonic, or septicemic plague depending on the method of exposure (Inglesby, T. V., Dennis, D. T., Henderson, D. A., Bartlett, J. G., Ascher, M. S., Eitzen, E., …Tonat, K., 2000, p2282.) Regarding characteristics, this is a bacterium and thus invisible to the naked eye, has a weakness to direct sunlight and heat, and cannot typically survive for long periods outside of a host (Inglesby, T. V., Dennis, D. T., Henderson, D. A., Bartlett, J. G., Ascher, M. S., Eitzen, E., …Tonat, K., 2000, p2289.) The insidious aspect of biological threats is what causes fear in many people and this agent is no different considering initial exposure to onset of symptoms requires an incubation period of one to six …show more content…
When this is coupled with the physical and psychological casualty care costs even a large economy may see lasting damage. The risk is not solely to the attacked however. Any group that uses a biological weapon is likely to lose credibility and become the recipient of major international repercussions. It is perhaps for this reason that the overall likelihood of an organization pursuing or using CBRN weapons is small, between .99% and 1.36% on average (Victor H. Asal , Gary A. Ackerman , R. Karl Rethemeyer, 2012, p248). While it is not possible to know future actions, any entity that chat chose to attack America with this method may well do so with the intention of drawing us into war as was the intent behind many of Al-Qaeda’s
other questions about the way Y. pestis spreads and problems that could have caused it from
The bacteria Yersinia Pestis is the cause of the black plague. Y. Pestis was discovered by Alexandre Yersin in 1849. The plague was the cause of one of the world's most horrific epidemics in the entire world. The plague is an infectious disease that first appeared in 1347 in China and made its way to Asia and then the Black Sea. The Black Plague has caused death to about 75 million lives. The plague is a deadly bacterial infection that can cause death if left untreated. The plague got its name the “Black Death” due to the fact that this disease caused black boils on the skin and that its victims were always on the verge of death when seen. The Plague would then soon arrive in Europe
The bacteria, Yersinia pestis, is encoded with two specific plasmids that aid in the transfer and survival of the bacteria, especially in the wild. Both of these plasmids must be present on the bacteria for full virulence of the organism. The largest of the extrachromosomal elements, with typical strains of ~100 kb, is the Murine toxin plasmid (pFra), a capsule protein. pFra is characterized by two specific factors: FI capsular protein antigen and YMT. The second plasmid, Pesticin plasmid named pPla after the plasminogen activator, happens to be the smallest of the plasmids. The bacteriocin (pesticin;Pst) and the bilanolysin and coagulase activities are found to be connected with one another and aids the former organism of Yersinia in the invasion of "the host from peripheral sites" (Carniel 41). After the bacteria is injected through a bite of the rat flea, Yersinia pestis affects the immune system similar to the bacterial agent, Bacillis anthracis. By having a Type III secretion system, the bacteria are able to find "a means ? to target virulence factors directly at host cells". The common Yersinia encoded plasmid molecule, pYV (or pLcr), found on the bacteria specifically aids in the injection of cytotoxic proteins into the macrophages, preventing the
The black death was a catastrophic time in our history (1347-1352) When it came to health care the way the people handled it back then was not superior. If a disease like the black death happened again today we would be more prepared for it because of the technology we have today (2017).
The Middle Ages were a very dark time, education became very unimportant and people were forced to live in very close quarters and, consequently, hygiene was atrocious and it made the perfect place for Yersinia Pestis to thrive. Yersinia Pestis is the virus responsible for the Black Death, a deadly disease that rapidly powered through Europe, killing nearly everyone in its way. The Black Death had many gruesome and scary symptoms that made bystanders sick just watching. Some people were more likely to get the Black Death than others. Because peasants had worse living conditions than the nobility, they were far more likely to catch the Plague. The history of the Plague and its track is very surprising to most people and when you see just how
Yersenia pestis is the pathogen responsible for different types of plague such as: septicemic plague, pneumonic plague, and the bubonic plague. The purpose of this paper is to inform about the Bubonic Plague so the information given will focus on this type of plague. The plague itself is transmitted in several ways. One of them being rodents spreading it to other animals by the channels of fleas and soil that has been already contaminated. Bubonic Plague can develop from direct contact with an object that is contaminated with sputum that comes belongs to a person suffering from pneumonic plague. However, direct contact with sputum isn’t necessary, a person can be contaminated by inhaling droplets from a patient with primary pneumonic
Yersinia pestis is a gram-negative facultative intracellular bacterium and member of the Enterobacteriaceae family that is transmitted from rodents to humans by flea vector or, less often, from human to human or even animal to human by droplets or aerosols. There are other animal vectors as well like rats, prairie dogs, squirrels, rabbits and chipmunks. Y. Pestis proliferates in the lymphoid tissue. Bacteria migrate through the cutaneous lymphatics to regional lymph nodes where they are phagocytosed but resist destruction. The bacteria increase rapidly, causing damage and necrosis of lymph nodes leading to bacteremia and further damage. Y. Pestis is made up of genes, called the Yop virulon
One organism that commonly causes diseases in humans is Yersinia pestis. This bacterium is the causative agent of the infamous bubonic plague, primary septicaemic plague, and primary pneumonic plague. Y. pestis was first discovered by Shibasaburo Kitasato and Alexandre Yersin, but due to Yersin’s description of the bacteria being more accurate, this bacterium was named after him (3). There are still disputes going on for who had correctly identified Y. pestis first.
It has been several decades since our last major pandemic, but for the most devastating pandemic in history was the bubonic plague. The bubonic plague is a bacterium, Yersinia pestis, a disease that affects humans and other mammals. This bacterium disease attacks the lymph nodes that are located throughout the body. Swollen lymph nodes may be a sign that the body is dealing with an infection. The largest groupings are found in the neck, armpits, and groin areas.
Yersinia pestis, the culprit behind the infamous Black Death, spread by rat fleas, has cast a shadow over human civilization, taken the lives of countless peasants and nobles alike like a violent brute who murders invariably. There are three major forms of infection stages, the bubonic plague, the septicemic plague, and the pneumonic plague (primary and secondary), all are lethal if not treated with proper antibiotics. Due to similar symptoms, clinical diagnosis, the distinction between a common cold and a lethal infection is made difficult. However, though a potent murderer, Yersinia pestis can be easily eliminated by antibiotic treatment; survivors of the disease
In the case of weaponized aerosol release of Yersinia pestis bacteria would cause primary pneumonic plague in the exposed. An infected individual from this attack has the potential to cause a secondary spread from person to person, but would not cause secondary pneumonic plague as the transmission originally occurred in an aerosolized form and would sustain cycles of human transmission (from person to person) independent of secondary zoonotic vectors such as through flea, tick, or rodent bites (Gani, R., & Leach, S., 2004).
Yersinia pestis (previously called Pasteurella pestis) is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped coccobacillus, a facultative anaerobic organism that can infect humans and animals. The genus is Yersinia, and it infects both humans and animals. It causes the deadly disease called Bubonic Plague.
The infectious disease known as “the Plague” is spread by a bacterium classified as Yersinia pestis, which is usually transmitted in the bites of fleas or infected animals or people.
Yersinia Pestis is found in many different countries. It usually effects people in the tropical, subtropical, and warmer temperate climates. This plague has effected countries in Africa, the former Soviet Union, the Americas, and Asia. Since the 1990’s most human cases have been seen in Africa (Plague). The three most common countries it effects are Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Peru. The spreading of this disease goes with the delivery of rodents it infects, which are found in all continents except Australia. Plague can be a very serious disease if it is not treated. “It has a case fatality rate of 30-60% if left untreated. In 2013 there were 783 cases reported worldwide, including 126 deaths” (Plague). In
Infectious diseases bring wreckage to some of the poorest and weakest communities in our country along with others. At the time, the Yersinia Pestis disease was only being found in some parts of the world, mainly Africa, Asia, and South America. Today our generation has many repellents that prevent any type of contact with fleas, mosquitos, moths, and more. However, during the mid 1800’s many were not guaranteed such a luxury; it was as simple to catch the disease if individuals were bitten by any type of rodent flea or were handling an animal that just so happened to be infected. Being the fact that rodents and their fleas are constantly involving in a cycle, the Yersinia Disease will maintain their existence in our generation and ones further