What is yersinia pestis?
Yersinia pestis (formerly Pasteurella pestis) is a Gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium belonging to the family Enterobacteriaceae. It is a facultative anaerobe that can infect humans and other animals. Human Y. pestis infection takes three main forms: pneumonic, septicemic, and the notorious bubonic plagues. All three forms have been responsible for high mortality rates in epidemics throughout human history, including the Black Death (a bubonic plague) that accounted for the death of at least one-third of the European population in 1347 to 1353. Recently Y. pestis has gained attention as a possible biological warfare agent and the CDC has classified it as category a pathogen requiring preparation for a possible terrorist attack. Yersinia pestis bacteria — the organism responsible for plague — can grow with or without oxygen. Animals that are known to carry the bacteria include rats, prairie dogs, and fleas. During an outbreak, the bacteria can survive for months in cool, moist conditi
