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Questions and Answers
What is the primary method of transmission for Yersinia pestis in humans?
What is the primary method of transmission for Yersinia pestis in humans?
Yersinia enterocolitica can cause illnesses through contaminated food and water.
Yersinia enterocolitica can cause illnesses through contaminated food and water.
True
What are the common symptoms of bubonic plague?
What are the common symptoms of bubonic plague?
High fever, painful bubo, conjunctivitis, bacteremia
The mortality rate of untreated pneumonic plague is greater than ___%.
The mortality rate of untreated pneumonic plague is greater than ___%.
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Which animal is NOT commonly associated with the transmission of Yersinia pestis?
Which animal is NOT commonly associated with the transmission of Yersinia pestis?
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Effective treatment and prevention strategies for plague include vaccination and pest control.
Effective treatment and prevention strategies for plague include vaccination and pest control.
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What disease is commonly caused by Yersinia enterocolitica?
What disease is commonly caused by Yersinia enterocolitica?
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Match the following Yersinia diseases with their characteristics:
Match the following Yersinia diseases with their characteristics:
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Study Notes
Yersinia Bacteria
- Yersinia is a genus of Gram-negative, coccobacilli bacteria.
- They are facultative anaerobes, a few micrometers long and fractions of a micrometer in diameter.
- Some Yersinia species are pathogenic to humans.
- Carried by small animals (e.g., domestic cats) and transmitted to humans via fleas.
Yersinia pestis (The Plague)
- Transmission: Transmitted to humans through flea bites that have fed on infected animals (rats, mice, squirrels, rabbits, prairie dogs).
- Alternative transmission: Direct contact with infected animal blood via broken skin.
- Domestic animal infection: Cats and dogs can get plague from fleas or infected rodents.
Plague Types and Symptoms
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Bubonic Plague:
- Transmission: Infected flea bite.
- Incubation: 7 days.
- Symptoms: High fever, painful swollen lymph nodes (buboes - in groin or armpit), conjunctivitis, bacteremia.
- Untreated mortality rate >75%.
-
Pneumonic Plague:
- Transmission: Inhalation of infected droplets from another person.
- Incubation : 2 to 3 days.
- Symptom: Fever, malaise, respiratory problems (typically one day after onset of fever and malaise)
- Untreated mortality rate >90%.
Prevention and Treatment of The Plague
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Prevention: Effective pest control, patient isolation, and vaccination (formalin-killed vaccine effective against the bubonic form).
-
Treatment: (details not provided in the text).
Yersinia enterocolitica
- Transmission: Found in livestock, rabbits and rodents. Transmitted through contaminated food, water, or blood products.
Yersinia enterocolitica Diseases and Symptoms
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Enterocolitis:
- Most common.
- Bloody diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain (lasting 1-2 weeks, but can be chronic for more than one year.)
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Mesenteric lymphadenitis:
- Enlarged mesenteric lymph nodes that may mimic acute appendicitis.
- Common in young children.
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Transfusion-related septicemia:
- Y. enterocolitica can multiply in refrigerated blood products over weeks.
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Description
Explore the Yersinia genus of bacteria, including the pathogenic Yersinia pestis, responsible for the plague. Learn about transmission methods, types of plague, their symptoms, and the impact on humans. This quiz provides essential knowledge about one of history's deadliest pathogens.
