Yersinia pestis: the Natural History of Plague
Riccardo Barbieri, Michel Signoli, Dominique Chevé, Caroline Costedoat, Stéfan Tzortzis, Gérard Aboudharam, Didier Raoult, Michel Drancourt
Abstract
The Gram-negative bacterium Yersinia pestis is responsible for deadly plague, a zoonotic disease established in stable foci in the Americas, Africa, and Eurasia. Its persistence in the environment relies on the subtle balance between Y. pestis -contaminated soils, burrowing and nonburrowing mammals exhibiting variable degrees of plague susceptibility, and their associated fleas. Transmission from one host to another relies mainly on infected flea bites, inducing typical painful, enlarged lymph nodes referred to as buboes, followed by septicemic dissemination of the pathogen.
Topics & Concepts
Yersinia pestisPlague (disease)FleaBiologyMicrobiologyYersiniosisPathogenHost (biology)VirologyTransmission (telecommunications)YersiniaYersinia pseudotuberculosisBacteriaEnterobacteriaceaeZoologyEcologyVirulenceGeographyEscherichia coliGeneEngineeringBiochemistryArchaeologyGeneticsElectrical engineeringYersinia bacterium, plague, ectoparasites researchBacillus and Francisella bacterial researchZoonotic diseases and public health