ipl-logo

Yersinia Pestis Research Paper

445 Words2 Pages
The plague has retained a place in history for the past 800 years. Between the Black Death of the Middle Ages to yearly bubonic occurrences within the southwestern United States, this infection caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis has a notorious reputation all over the world. Its standing as a Category A Bioterrorist Agent and a Tier 1 Select Agent only increases the infamous status of the bacterium. However, to completely understand the plague, a person needs to understand the plague bacteria.
Yersinia pestis is a gram-negative bacillus. It is predominately transmitted amongst rodents, but humans can become unsuspecting victims as well. Because the bacillus is noted to cause death in its mammal hosts, the plague is often named as the cause
Show More
Related
492 Words | 2 Pages

Interestingly, there are many articles that discuss the black plague outbreak; and, while all articles relate to the Black Death (plague outbreak), few bring a different perspective, for example: • The Black Death Decoded explores elements analyzed with findings of a similar strain of Yersinia, as Zeigler alludes to Yersinia throughout his book. • The Black Death discusses the Genome of Yersinia pestis, which relates to the bacteria that causes bubonic plague (a definite point Zeigler argues). Of course, there have been a lot of questions and suspicions about the effects of the Black Death, and its arrival to England as well as the mortality rate, but Zeigler suggest “between a third and half the people must have died” (p. 128) from the

Read More
1655 Words | 7 Pages

The bacillus infects people through the bite of infected fleas and rats (“BLACK DEATH”). This was especially prominent in urban and over populated areas (“Ecology and Transmission“). When Plagues strike people and animals alike die horrifically, in turn fleas need to find other sources of food. The people living in poor conditions often get forayed by flea bites, thus infecting them (“Ecology and Transmission“). It was seldom for the Black Death to be spread from person to person.

Read More
1198 Words | 5 Pages

In the spring of 1348, the most devastating pandemic in European history infected it’s first victim along the coast of Italy. The Bubonic Plague had established a foothold and would continue to rip its way through Europe for the rest of the 14th century. The Bubonic Plague is a vector borne illness that is transmitted by a flea that is typically found on rats. The plague originated in Eastern Asia, but found its way to Europe along trade routes carried by rats on Genoese ships. The Bubonic Plague was extremely devastating to European society in several ways including: major population destruction, harsh invalid accusations, and compounding medical issues.

Read More
919 Words | 4 Pages

The Bubonic Plague, is a disease that is caused by Yersinia pestis. This bacteria is found in rodents, such as rats. Fleas feed on these rats, and it can be passed to humans through flea bites. The Bubonic Plague was first seen in China, yet it came to Europe in the year 1347 with the use of Genoise Ships. These ships would bring the contaminated rats across the Black Sea.

Read More
1207 Words | 5 Pages

There are three common forms of the plague: The Bubonic,spread by direct flea bites, the Septimic, in which the bacteria directly enter the bloodstream, and the Pneumonic, in which the virus is inhaled into the lungs. The three branches of the disease gave it the versatility to spread faster and become even more

Read More
1163 Words | 5 Pages

The historical pandemic of the Black Death (1347-1352), which killed 25 million people, greatly impacted the European history of the Middle Ages. Originating from China and Inner Asia, the infection of the bacterium Yersinia pestis had widely spread, rapidly infecting those who encounter the infected. The main cause of the spread derived from flea-infected rats on boats or the fleas on the bodies and clothes of the travellers. People at the time had limited understanding of the world, so they believed that the Black Death had an association with supernatural forces such as God’s punishment for sin and demonic acts, along with performing medical procedures that were futile for the disease. The era was highly affected by the plague,

Read More
1336 Words | 6 Pages

The Bubonic Plague, other wise known as the Black Death, was a devastating pandemic that swept through Europe in the late 1340s and the early 1350s. The Bubonic Plague was thought to have originated in central Asia. There it was thought to have spread throughout Europe from rats and fleas that were carried from central Asia to Europe by merchant ships. The Bubonic Plague had a devastating effect on economic, religious, social, and cultural aspects in Europe.

Read More
932 Words | 4 Pages

There are various types of plague, and each one is caused by the yersinia pestis bacteria. This bacteria was spread by the oriental rat flea, which arrived in Europe via ship. The first

Read More
681 Words | 3 Pages

In New York City, there is an infectious disease called leptospirosis that is linked to rats, just like the Bubonic Plague was. People who are exposed to rat infested environments are most likely to be affected. The disease can infect you if you come into contact with an infected rat’s urine or anything that has been contaminated by the infected rat’s urine. There are many subways in New York that are infested with rats and people have to be careful not to get infected in case any of these rats are carrying any diseases. Recently in New York’s Bronx borough, the disease has killed one person and left two sickened.

Read More
601 Words | 3 Pages

Often as a result of overpopulation, pandemics—like swine flu and ebola, for instance—have affected life on Earth for centuries; one of the most well-known, and possibly the most unforgiving epidemics was the Bubonic Plague, also known as the Black Death . Although the first symptoms of the Plague trace back to the Mongol Empire in 1331, the disease first struck Europe in Venice and Genoa during the winter of 1348. In the following years, the Bubonic Plague spread rapidly throughout Europe, killing roughly a third of its population. It is suggested that the rapid spread and extreme severity of the Black Death was partially due to the weakened immune system of the Europeans, which had been caused by the Great Famine, a period of food scarcity that affected Europe from 1315 to 1322. Additionally, the lack of knowledge about the spread of

Read More
696 Words | 3 Pages

The flea was the disease vector and rats, along with other mammals, were the hosts. A bacteriologist named Theobald Smith discovered that ticks and other arthropods can transmit diseases such as Texas cattle fever. His

Read More
1281 Words | 6 Pages

The Bubonic Plague The Bubonic Plague was a disease that was spread through fleas found on rodents. It took place during the late middle ages (1340 - 1400) in mainly Europe and Asia and killed approximately 25 million people. The Bubonic plague was a turning point in history because it caused an advancement in medicine and hygiene, destabilized the Roman Catholic church and caused one of the greatest recessions in history. However, there were a few things that stayed the same, such as the manor system, agriculture, and aspects of medicine.

Read More
329 Words | 2 Pages

The plague is most effective because in 1331, the plague broke out in three different country’s china, asia, and Europe. In the book of “Tiny Invader” it states that ,”As many as 200 million people died in the pandemic,”(P.248). The plague is caused by bacteria like viruses, bacteria is a type of germ that kills many people. If one person had the plague and you could catch it by caring for the person or touching them. Christophe

Read More
235 Words | 1 Pages

The Black Death also known as the “black plaque” was a widespread of bubonic plaque that killed nearly seventy-five million people and wiped out a fourth of the entire Europe population. The Black Death was caused by the bacterium “…Yersinia pestis that comes from wild rodents that arrived in Europe by sea in October

Read More
152 Words | 1 Pages

There has been many outbreaks of the plague from the first time it developed and the time it stopped causing mass epidemics, which can be attributed to huge advances in medicine. There were three major outbreaks of the plague throughout history. The first came in the 500’s called the Justinian Plague, The European Plague which is the most known of the three major epidemics. The European Plague is where the Plague got its famous nickname “The Black Death”. The final major outbreak of the Plague was known as The Great Plague of London which occurred in the 1600’s.

Read More

More about Yersinia Pestis Research Paper

Related Topics

Open Document