Yersinia Pestis And The Plague

The bacteria, Yersinia pestis, is encoded with two specific plasmids that aid in the transfer and survival of the bacteria, especially in the wild. Both of these plasmids must be present on the bacteria for full virulence of the organism. The largest of the extrachromosomal elements, with typical strains of ~100 kb, is the Murine toxin plasmid (pFra), a capsule protein. pFra is characterized by two specific factors: FI capsular protein antigen and YMT. The second plasmid, Pesticin plasmid named pPla after the plasminogen activator, happens to be the smallest of the plasmids. The bacteriocin (pesticin;Pst) and the bilanolysin and coagulase activities are found to be connected with one another and aids the former organism of Yersinia in the invasion of "the host from peripheral sites" (Carniel 41). After the bacteria is injected through a bite of the rat flea, Yersinia pestis affects the immune system similar to the bacterial agent, Bacillis anthracis. By having a Type III secretion system, the bacteria are able to find "a means ? to target virulence factors directly at host cells". The common Yersinia encoded plasmid molecule, pYV (or pLcr), found on the bacteria specifically aids in the injection of cytotoxic proteins into the macrophages, preventing the

For centuries, plague ravaged the people living in Asia, Africa, and Europe, leading to destructive plague outbreaks, contributing to massive panic in cities and countries where it appeared. Believed to be the only antidote, cities would dig mass burial sites to dispose of the bodies of the infected after their deaths, one of which was East Smithfield. East Smithfield was excavated in the 1980s and, thanks to the 2,400 bodies recovered from the graveyard, scientists were able to reconstruct the genome from the bacterium that caused the bubonic plague, Yersinia pestis (Callaway). Years before this discovery, Alexandre Yersin linked Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis) to the bubonic plague; many scientists then surmised that the pathogen was behind not only the Black death, but also a myriad of earlier mass pandemics

(4 pt) 7. What are the virulence factors associated with this organism (toxins, intracellular growth, capsule, antibiotic resistance, etc.. Include information how these factors contribute to the organism’s ability to cause disease – (200 word

The causes of the Black Death – the flea, the rat, and the bacillus Yersinia pestis– have been labeled the “unholy trinity” (Boeckl). The flea is able to live in environmental conditions of about 74° Fahrenheit and 60% humidity (Ibid). Before the Black Death reached Europe, they were experiencing those same types of weather conditions. The rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis and the human flea, Pulex irritans, are both capable of transmitting plague (Boeckl). Sometimes, an infected flea cannot ingest blood because Yersinia pestis obstructs its digestive tract. The blockage causes a flea to regurgitate into a bitten host rather than ingest the host’s blood, thereby infecting the host with plague (Boeckl). Unable to eat, the famished flea will bite with more frequency, accelerating the spread of plague. A flea can be carrying Yersinia pestis without it blocking the flea’s digestive tract, in which case the flea does not transmit plague when it bites a host. Also, Yersinia pestis can only enter a victim through a bite, as the bacilli cannot pass through intact skin (Gottfried).

Yertinsa pestis, or Black death was one of the worst natural disasters in history. It killed a worldwide count of 155-220 million people. It is believed to have been one of the first cases of biological warfare when the Mongols catapulted the dead bodies infected with Yersinia Pestis over the city walls, into the city of Caffa, Crimea, an area which they were at war with..

The Plague is an infectious disease caused by a strain of bacteria called Yersinia pestis. These bacteria are mainly present in rodents, particularly rats, and the fleas that feed on them. Other animals and humans usually contract the bacteria from rodents or flea bites or by eating an infected animal. Bubonic plague infects your lymphatic system (the immune system), initiating inflammation. If left untreated, it can move into the blood and cause the septicemic plague, or it can move to the lungs and cause the pneumonic plague (the most deadly form of the plague.) .The most common form of the plague (Bubonic Plague) is not contagious. However, the pneumonic plague is highly contagious. The Plague develops rapidly; therefore, it may lead to

A bubonic plague can be transmitted through the wild rodent fleas and on unusual occasions bites or scratches causing nonspecific symptoms such as fever, chills, headache and then progresses into lymphadenitis at the site of the initial flea bite. Then, the risk for developing secondary involvement of the lung becomes a pneumonic plague. The pneumonic plague is a respiratory droplet of an infected person.

The Pneumonic plague occurs when the bubonic plague is left untreated. It is a severe lung infection that is also caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The Yersinia pestis bacteria is carried by

How the disease was transmitted was further looked on by Nelson (1995). According to the said author, the disease was transmitted primarily by fleas and rats. The stomachs of the fleas were infected with bacteria known Y. Pestis. Nelson held that “the bacteria would block the "throat" of infected fleas so that no blood could reach their stomachs, and they grew ravenous since they were starving to death” (1995, par. 14). The bacteria would then attempt to suck up blood from their victims, only to disgorge it back into their preys' bloodstreams (Nelson, 1995). Now, however, the victims' blood was mixed with Y. Pestis. Fleas infected rats in this fashion, and the rats spread the disease to other rats and fleas before dying (Nelson, 1995). Without rodent hosts, the fleas then migrated to the bodies of humans and infected them in the same fashion as they had the rats .

To attack its host, the bacterium needs multiple bacteria to disable victim’s cells so it can reproduce. It attacks the cells because it cannot survive outside of a host organism (Plague p7). The lethality of the disease is high but it can be treated if it is noticed before the symptoms become deadly (Newquist 240).

All types of the plague are derived from the bacteria Yersinia pestis, which is not only found in the United States, but also all around the world (“Frequently Asked Questions”). This bacteria is very specific to the Bubonic Plague and is used in scientific tests to determine whether or not a human has the disease. The Yersinia pestis bacteria was discovered by Alexander Yersinia in 1894 and “is a gram negative, rod-shaped, facultative anaerobic bacterium” (Tucker). In order for this rod-shaped bacteria to travel from rodents to humans, it has to be passed around through the Sylvatic and Urban Cycles. The Sylvatic Cycle is where wild rodents are bitten by fleas. After the rodents are bitten, the fleas carry the bacteria between the rodents until the bacteria is dead. If a rodent carrying a flea with the disease and comes in contact with another wild species, the disease will then be passed around throughout that species. In order for humans to acquire the Bubonic Plague, the bacteria has to enter the Urban Cycle. The Urban Cycle is where the fleas carrying the bacteria bite a domestic animal and then the domestic animals pass it to humans when they handle them. The Urban Cycle can also pass the disease to humans if a flea carrying the bacteria directly bites a human. Therefore, if any human comes in contact with a flea carrying the bacteria or a

Although scientists are not 100 percent certain of the relationship between the bacteria and Yersinia pestis, a close examination of the find suggests that they are indeed related. The bacteria on the flea has features that match the modern forms of the bubonic plague bacteria, which can be characterized by their unique

In stanza 52 the poet Whitman becomes the hawk. His voice is "untranslatable" and, in another famous phrase, a "barbaric yawp." This passage leave us with the sound waves in the air and with the vagueness of the grass under our feet. And he is thinking that he is not translatable from one bodily matter to another. The day seems to wait for him to get ready to move on. instead it leads him on into darkness. A metaphor for death could be the day ending. Also the notion that Whitman's hair has grown "white," and he fling his "locks" at the setting sun. He liquefy into the air, leaving like the air and melting his flesh in the "eddies" of water. When the body decomposes all of the memories and thoughts depart all the materials of self-identity.

“There’s nothing new about cannabis, of course. It’s been around humankind pretty much forever. In Siberia charred seeds have been found inside burial mounds dating back to 3000 B.C. The Chinese were using cannabis as a medicine thousands of years ago. Marijuana is deeply American too—as American as George Washington, who grew hemp at Mount Vernon. For most of the country’s history, cannabis was legal, commonly found in tinctures and extracts” (Sides). This is how the national geographic article “Science Seeks To Unlock Marijuana’s Secrets” by Hampton Sides was opened. Very good opening sentences that provide a good idea of marijuana and a little history on it as well. There are many problems in todays society, but the argument of

This teen fashion model hit the scene march 9, 1959. Wearing nothing but a black and white zebra striped bathing suit, black opened toe shoes, and gold earring. She had blonde hair, red painted lips, full breast, small waist, and long slender legs. And every young girl white or black had to have her and wanted to be her. Barbie was the got to have doll in 1959 till this day worldwide. During my youth my sister and I wanted her too. For Christmas, birthdays and every time we saw a new commercial for her.