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| __NOTOC__
| | #REDIRECT [[Yersinia pestis]] |
| {{Yersinia pestis infection}}
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| {{CMG}}; Assistant Editors-In-Chief: Esther Lee, M.A.
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| ==Overview==
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| ''[[Yersinia pestis]]'', a rod-shaped [[facultative anaerobe]] with bipolar staining (giving it a safety pin appearance) causes the infection in mammals and humans.<ref name=Baron>{{cite book | author = Collins FM | title = Pasteurella, Yersinia, and Francisella. ''In:'' Baron's Medical Microbiology ''(Baron S ''et al'', eds.)| edition = 4th | publisher = Univ. of Texas Medical Branch | year = 1996 | url = http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/bv.fcgi?rid=mmed.section.1611 | isbn = 0-9631172-1-1 }}</ref> The bacteria maintain their existence in a cycle involving rodents and their fleas.
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| ==Transmission==
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| The plague bacteria can be transmitted to humans in several ways. Pneumonic plague can be transmitted from person to person; bubonic plague cannot. Pneumonic [[plague]] affects the [[lungs]] and is transmitted when a person breathes in Y. pestis particles in the air. Bubonic plague is transmitted through the bite of an infected flea or exposure to infected material through a break in the skin.
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| ===Flea Bites===
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| Plague bacteria are most often transmitted by the bite of an infected flea. During plague epizootics, many rodents die, causing hungry fleas to seek other sources of blood. People and animals that visit places where rodents have recently died from plague are at risk of being infected from flea bites. Dogs and cats may also bring plague-infected fleas into the home. Flea bite exposure may result in primary bubonic plague or septicemic plague.
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| ===Contact with Contaminated Fluid or Tissue===
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| Humans can become infected when handling tissue or body fluids of a plague-infected animal. For example, a hunter skinning a rabbit or other infected animal without using proper precautions could become infected with plague bacteria. This form of exposure most commonly results in bubonic plague or septicemic plague.
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| ===Infectious Droplets===
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| When a person has plague pneumonia, they may cough droplets containing the plague bacteria into air. If these bacteria-containing droplets are breathed in by another person they can cause pneumonic plague. Typically this requires direct and close contact with the person with pneumonic plague. Transmission of these droplets is the only way that plague can spread between people. This type of spread has not been documented in the United States since 1924, but still occurs with some frequency in developing countries. Cats are particularly susceptible to plague, and can be infected by eating infected rodents. Sick cats pose a risk of transmitting infectious plague droplets to their owners or to veterinarians. Several cases of human plague have occurred in the United States in recent decades as a result of contact with infected cats.
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| ==References==
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| {{Reflist|2}}
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| [[Category:Dermatology]]
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| [[Category:Infectious disease]]
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| [[Category:Pulmonology]]
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| [[Category:Hematology]]
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| [[Category:Disease]]
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| [[Category:Needs content]]
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| {{WH}}
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| {{WS}}
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