Yersinia pestis
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Epidemiology
- endemic to southwestern U.S.
- reservoir is rodents
- transmission is through the bite of a flea
Pathology
- etiologic agent of plague
- rhoA serves as a target for the yopT cysteine peptidase from Yersinia pestis & Yersinia pseudotuberculosis
- rhoA is cleaved by yopT protease when the cell is infected by Yersinia; this removes the lipid attachment, & leads to its displacement from plasma membrane & to subsequent cytoskeleton cleavage
Laboratory
- Yersinia pestis Ab in serum
- Yersinia pestis antigen
- Yersinia pestis identified in isolate
- Yersinia pestis DNA[3]
- Yersinia pestis culture
- non-motile bipolar straining gram negative bacillus (appearance of a closed safety pin)
Management
- streptomycin or gentamicin
- alternative agents
Notes
- because of the lethality of pneumonic plague, the CDC has labeled Yersinia pestis as a categoty A bioterrorism agent[2]
More general terms
Additional terms
References
- ↑ Mayo Internal Medicine Board Review, 1998-99, Prakash UBS (ed) Lippincott-Raven, Philadelphia, 1998, pg 798-99
- ↑ Jump up to: 2.0 2.1 Medical Knowledge Self Assessment Program (MKSAP) 15, 16, 18. American College of Physicians, Philadelphia 2009, 2012, 2018.
- ↑ Jump up to: 3.0 3.1 Loinc