Yersinia Pestis: A Facultative Intracellular Bacteria

“The Black Death, caused by the Yersinia pestis bacterium, first exploded in Europe between 1347 and 1351.” (Pappas) It consisted of three different plagues; The Bubonic, Septicemic, and Pneumonic plagues. It was first noticed when Genoese trading ships were docked at the Sicilian port of Messina arriving from the Black Sea. People waiting for the ships to arrive were astonished at the scene left on the ship. A big percentage of the sailors were dead. Others that were still alive, didn’t have much longer. They were very sick. They could not eat without needing to puke it up. This scene left a bad taste in the mouths of the people of Europe. They knew something was coming.

Yersinia Pestis, is a bacilli shaped capsular antigen and is able to show pigmentation on select culture media (9). It is from the

Yertinsa pestis, or Black death was one of the worst natural disasters in history. It killed a worldwide count of 155-220 million people. It is believed to have been one of the first cases of biological warfare when the Mongols catapulted the dead bodies infected with Yersinia Pestis over the city walls, into the city of Caffa, Crimea, an area which they were at war with..

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.

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

Yaws is a bacterial infection that comes from the spiral bacteria Treponema pallidum, and is the most common infection of the organism. It affects not only the skin, leaving lesions, but both the bone and cartilage. It presents itself in yellow ulcers and pain/swelling of the “long bones,” and untreated, yaws can lead to disfigurement and disability. Humans, though, are the only recipients of this infection known thus far. This disease is most prevalent in hot and humid regions along the equator, specifically Africa, Asia, the Pacific islands, and Latin America. The majority of populations affected are those that are secluded and “at the end of the road” because they live in very resource deficient or poor areas. These

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.

The Bubonic Plague is a deadly bacteria known as Yersinia Pestis. The bacteria infects the Lymphatic system and it becomes inflamed. The bacteria kills by cutting off a cell’s ability to communicate with other immune system cells. It is the most common form of plague in humans, characterized by fever, delirium, and the formation of buboes. It is a rare but serious bacterial infection transmitted usually from a flea feeding on an infected rodent that intern becomes infected and bites a human thereby transmitting the rodents blood.

In the event of an Y. pestis infection the body will redeploy a specific humoral and cellular defence mechanisms and will establishes protective immunity the humoral immune response can directly attack extracellular bacteria and will stimulate the cell mediated cell response to neutralise the bacteria’s ability to dampen the body’s ability to deploy Antibodies, B cells and Macrophages and resulting in the promotion of T cell activation in cooperation with the cell mediated response mechanisms aiding the humoral response by eradicating the intercellular Y. pestis reservoir from the

Once the bacterium, Yersinia pestis, enters the bloodstream, it travels to the liver, spleen, kidneys, lungs, and brain. The incubation period is commonly 2 to 6 days after exposure. Early symptoms include:

Plague was one of the most virulent epidemics in human history. Plague wiped out nearly twenty-five million of the population of Europe. Symptoms caused by Yersinia Pestis. These bacteria live in the bodies of ground rodents. Plague is a bacterial disease, acute contagious and is one of the common diseases range between humans and animals. There are three types of plague: First, Bubonic Plague that is occurs when a contagious human flea bite after biting infected mouse infected, it conveys infections that multiply and spread in the whole body. And the plague bacteria produce toxins that cause serious complications may-end with death. Second, Pneumonic Plague, the most dangerous types of plague, is transmitted by inhaling infected droplets during

The two ways a pathogen can enter the body is through direct contact transmission or through indirect contact transmission. A direct contact transmission occurs when infected blood or body fluids from one person enter another person’s body at the correct entry site. A direct contact

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

Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium Yersinia pestis causes Plague. A rat flea will carry the disease from one rat to another. If the rat

The plague is an infectious disease, which is caused by a bacterium called Yersinia Pestis. This bacterium is a rod- or ovoid-shaped microorganism that belongs to the family of enterobacteriaceae, which are usually facultative anaerobes, which means that they can survive in environments, where oxygen is present in large quantities or also in conditions, where O2 is not present. Y. Pestis is typically found in rodents such as rats or marmots.