Yersinia Pestisis Research Paper

The Black Death, also known as ‘The Bubonic Plague’ was a devastating pandemic in the 14th century, affecting mainly Europe. It was caused by a deadly bacteria, ‘Yersinia Pestis’ that caused large, pus-filled swellings on the victim’s body. In the space of 5 years, the plague spread rapidly and claimed the lives of 25 million people.

The bubonic plague is a bacterial disease that is considered one of the most lethal in history. Recorded pandemics of the plague reach back to 541 A.D. and minor epidemics can still be found around the world (Plague). The plague consists of a bacterium called Yersinia pestis. This bacterium has the ability to mutate quickly and can easily destroy the immune system of the infected person, “it does this by injecting toxins into defense cells such as macrophages that are tasked with detecting bacterial infections. Once these cells are knocked out, the bacteria can multiply unhindered.” (Plague) The bubonic plague has a number of symptoms ranging from a headache to seizures. The most distinguishable

What is the plague? The plague or referred to as the Black Death, according to the CDC (2015), “is a disease that affects humans and other mammals and caused by the Yersinia pestis bacteria. Humans usually get plague after being bitten by a rodent flea that is carrying the plague bacterium or by handling an animal infected with plague”. There are three categories of a plague. There is the bubonic plague, which is the most common form. With this form bacteria infects the lymph system and causes it to become inflamed. Symptoms of this type of plague are fever, headache, chills, and swollen and tender lymph nodes, which are called buboes. Then there is the Septicemic, which occurs when the bacteria multiply in the blood. Symptoms of this type of plague are fever, chills, extreme weakness, abdominal pain, shock, and possibly bleeding into the skin and other organs. Also, skin and other tissues may turn black and die, especially fingers, toes and the nose (CDC, 2015). Then there is the Pneumonic Plague, which is the most serious form of plague and occurs when Y. pestis bacteria infect the lungs and cause pneumonia (NIH, 2015). This is the only form of the plague that can be transmitted human to human. Symptoms of this form of the plague are ever, headache, weakness, and a rapidly

Hundreds of years ago, a plague swept over the known world. The Great Plague, Great Pestilence, and Black Death were a few of the names that it was given. In the Background Essay, it states that, "the plague killed between 25 and 45% of the populations it encountered." It was played a huge role in the history of the 14th century. There were three bacterial strains of the plague; all of them were deadly. According

The prevalence of disease in the thirteenth century was very common in Europe,and Africa, later on spread to parts of Asia. Currently the bubonic is not that common but is still infecting a small portion of the earth. The Bubonic Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacteria Yersinia Pestis, a zoonotic bacteria, usually found in small animals and their fleas. It is transmitted between animals and humans by the bite of infected fleas, direct contact, inhalation and rarely, ingestion of infective materials.

The Bubonic Plagues a highly lethal infection caused by the microbe Yersinia pestis. This plague is most commonly associated with the plague of the 14th century, when it wiped out nearly half of the entire European population. The Bubonic Plague spread rapidly throughout Europe and was an often fatal illness, characterized by enlarged lymph nodes with pus filled buboes, gangrene, septicemia, and severe lung infections, followed by the quick onslaught of death. The Black Plague is the worst natural disaster in European History. The plagues devastation impacted all aspects of European life and was the turning point from medieval to modern Europe. The incidence and virulence of the plague decreased over the years and became limited to certain areas by the end of the 20th century. However, the black plague has recently re-emerged around the world. The expanded knowledge from genetic research has introduced the threat of multidrug resistance and a modern day pandemic of the “Black Death.”

Pestis bacteria is usually through the bites of fleas or rodents that contracted the bacteria through a previous feeding of an animals who had the bacteria in their blood. The vectors of the Y. pestis bacteria is usually the rat fleas which are also named Xenopsylla cheopis. The way the bacteria works is by first infecting a flea and multiplying inside the flea. The bacteria will then clump together and cause a blockage in the fleas stomach causing the flea to be hungry constantly and begin to starve. So when the flea bites and feeds off an animal or a human it tries to feed but the flea ends up vomiting its tainted blood due to no room in their stomach. Which then causing the bacteria to enter the site of the initial bite causing infection to the new victim. The animals who usually have the Y. Pestis bacteria are animals such as mice, rats, rabbits, squirrels, chipmunks and prairie dogs. Other methods of getting the plague is by having direct contact with an infected person or animal or by consuming an infected animal. But it is very rare to catch bubonic or septicemic plague from human to human contact. Only Pneumonic plague can be passed on from person to person. The way that a person can get Pneumonic plague from another person is by an infected person's cough. When the person coughs it causes droplets to be released into the air with the Y. Pestis bacteria. A person who is healthy only has to breath in those droplets and then

The Black Death was one of the most deadliest diseases in Europe. “...Black Death… is spread by a bacillus called Yersinia

The “plague” is known as the “Yersinia pestis” bacteria, which is a rare zoonotic disease. These diseases are spread from animal to human (Newquist 239, Adamloakun M.D. 718). The bacterium lives in rodents such as rats and is carried by fleas (Newquist 238). When the fleas bite humans, the bacterium spreads.

In the early half of the fourteenth century Europe experienced one of the most deadly and disastrous epidemics this world has ever seen. The Black Death or bubonic plague which is caused by the Yersinia pestis is said to half wiped out close to half the population at the time of the outbreak. What is scary is that the same disease has had outbreaks of the plague in both North and South America in recent times but we have not had the same devastating results that we saw in Europe during the fourteenth century. Infectious disease is still the leading cause of death in the world today and as the world becomes more of a "global village" the chances of naturally transmitting diseases is ever growing. In this paper we are going to discuss the factors

The Plague is an infectious disease caused by a strain of bacteria called Yersinia pestis. These bacteria are mainly present in rodents, particularly rats, and the fleas that feed on them. Other animals and humans usually contract the bacteria from rodents or flea bites or by eating an infected animal. Bubonic plague infects your lymphatic system (the immune system), initiating inflammation. If left untreated, it can move into the blood and cause the septicemic plague, or it can move to the lungs and cause the pneumonic plague (the most deadly form of the plague.) .The most common form of the plague (Bubonic Plague) is not contagious. However, the pneumonic plague is highly contagious. The Plague develops rapidly; therefore, it may lead to

“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.

The bubonic plague is a highly infectious disease that affects the lungs and lymph nodes. The plague is caused by a gram-negative, facultative anaerobe bacterial species called Yersinia pestis (“Bubonic Plague”). This same parasite can cause tuberculosis (Scogna). Bubonic plague is one of three forms of the plague. The other two forms are pneumonic and septicemic (“Plague”). The pneumonic form is very contagious; the

Bubonic plague is an infectious disease that is spread by the bacteria Yersinia pestis. These bacteria remain in a dormant state primarily in a rat flea’s foregut. Once the flea has bitten a victim it regurgitates the contents in its foregut into the bite location. Once the bacterium has entered into a mammal’s warm body it begins to reproduce and spread throughout the mammal’s body. The reproduction of this bacterium creates large painful swollen lymph nodes which are called buboes. Once these buboes get large enough they begin to ooze infected body fluid so that any contact between an infected person and a healthy person will facilitate the spread of this disease. (The Mayo Clinic Staff, 2012)

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