ANTC67H3 Lecture 4: ANTC67 Lecture 4 Bubonic Plague
Document Summary
Bubonic plague: bacteria yersinia pestis survives in soil briefly, in soft tissue up to 1 week, and frozen forever, andre yersin: swiss bacteriologist in paris sent by institute pasteur to the far east to study. Safety pin appearance in stained slide preparations plague. First isolated the plaguebacillus in 1894: plague bacillus is named after him (yersinia pestis); originally named it after his teacher. Typical host: rodents were important vectors in transmission of plague rattus rattus found throughout the world as a human commensal; probably native to asia. Rattus rattus: history of dependence on humans / living in human communities, occupies cities, villages, cultivated fields, shipping, consumes & destroys food stores, carries epidemics with fleas and in urine / feces. Pest" status - declining due to competition with rattus norvegicus. Long-term reservoirs (i. e. , those who maintain the plague bacteria in their blood stream: plague bacterium circulated within certain species of rodents without excessive mortality.
