BSC 431 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Gentamicin, Sylvatic Cycle, Francisella

• School: University of Alabama
• Department: Biological Sciences
• Course: BSC 431
• Professor: Julie Olson

Document Summary

Yersinia (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) Medically important species: y. enterocolitica, y. pseudotuberculosis, y. pestis. All cause zoonotic infections- humans are an accidental host. Yersinia pestis is the agent of bubonic and pneumonic plague, while y. enterocolitica and y. pseudotuberculosis cause gastroenteritis (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) Natural pathogen of cattle, pigs, deer, and birds. Most infected hosts recover but remain carriers so contaminate water and dairy products (cid:1) Organisms excreted in fecal material (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) Disease mimics appendicitis- fever, bloody, diarrhea, abdominal pain. Infects m cells of the terminal small intestine. Usually self limiting but if abscesses are present, requires aggressive chemotherapy (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) (cid:1) Example of how a highly virulent clone can emerge: estimated divergence- 15,000 years ago, pestis. Also known as plague, black death, and bubonic fever.