Lecture 2 - Plague Flashcards
Yersinia
G-, rod shaped
3 Human Forms of Yersinia
enterocolitica, pseudotuberculosis, pestis
How does one die from Pestis
sepsis, pneumonia or resp failure
What type of Y. was Justinian pandemic?
Pestis
What type of Y. was the black plague pandemic
Pestis
How was the black plague spread globally?
Rats infected with lice moving on ships
Name for fleas/rats/human transmission?
Zoonotic pathogen
How did pestis effect fleas?
Began to starve them. The fleas would take blood meals from the infected rat, would cause bio film formation which caused starvation. This in turn caused them to get blood meals from humans causing more spread
Is Y. Pestis lethal?
Yes, takes only a tiny amount to be deadly
What immediately happens when Y. Pestis enters the human
Moves to lymph, causes swelling which forms buboes
Pestis virulence factors
Type 3 secretion, phospholipase, LPS, plasminogen activator
Where do we see the VF “type III secretions”
Only in G-
3 types of plague
Bubonic, Septicemic, pneumonic
Worst type of plague
Pneunmonic
Bubonic plague characteristics
Most common, by fleas, swollen lymph nodes, can develop into the other two forms
Septicemic plague characterisitcs
Present in blood, black fingers
Pneumonic plague characteristics
Transmitted via aerosols and very short incubation time. Certain death
How was plague tranmitted
Fleas, handling infected animals or eating infected animal meat
How is plague diagnosed?
Using stain and antigen testing
How are outbreaks of plague now handled?
Using insecticides to kill the fleas
