Septicemic plague
Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1]
Septicemic (or septicaemic) plague is a deadly blood infection by yersinia pestis, a gram-negative bacterium.
Pathophysiology
The disease can result from bubonic and pneumonic plague when bacteria enter the blood from the lymphatic and respiratory systems, respectively. Like other forms of gram-negative sepsis, septicemic plague can cause disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and is frequently fatal.