Yersinia Pestis

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 conditions, such as a rodent hole. Approximately 10 to 20 people in the United States develop an infection each year from flea or rodent bites.
 

What Is Yersinia Pestis?

Yersinia pestis are the bacteria that cause plague. This is a Gram-negative bacteria that can grow with or without oxygen (a quality called facultative anaerobic).
 

The Family of Yersinia Pestis

Yersinia pestis was formerly classified in the Pasteurellaceae family, but based on its similarities to Escherichia coli (E. coli), the Yersinia group has been reclassified as members of the Enterobacteriaceae family.
 
Although there are 11 named species in the genus Yersinia, only three are considered important human pathogens:
 
 
Yersinia pseudotuberculosis is the closest genetic relative to Yersinia pestis, but it can be distinguished from Yersinia pestis by the symptoms it causes and by laboratory test results. Neither of these bacteria frequently infect humans, in contrast to Yersinia enterocolitica, which accounts for 1 to 3 percent of diarrhea cases caused by bacteria.
 

Yersinia Pestis in Animals

Yersinia pestis is found most commonly in rats, but occasionally in other animals, such as:
 
  • Mice
  • Squirrels
  • Fleas
  • Cats
  • Dogs
  • Lice
  • Prairie dogs
  • Wood rats
  • Chipmunks.
     
Other, less frequent sources include wild rabbits and wild carnivores that pick up their infections from wild rodent outbreaks.
 
Deer mice and voles (field mice) are thought to maintain Yersinia pestis in animal populations, but are less important as sources of human infection.
 

Transmission of Yersinia Pestis

Plague transmission from these infected animals generally occurs in one of three ways:
 
  • Bites from infected rodent fleas
  • Direct contact with infected tissue or bodily fluids
  • Inhaling infected droplets (see Plague Transmission for more information).
     

How Long Can It Survive?

During an outbreak, Yersinia pestis are able to survive for several months in cool, moist conditions, such as the soil of a rodent hole. Between outbreaks, the bacteria is believed to circulate within populations of certain species of rodents without causing excessive death. Such groups of infected animals serve as silent, long-term reservoirs of infection.
 

How Common Is Yersinia Pestis?

Approximately 10 to 20 people in the United States develop Yersinia pestis infections each year from flea or rodent bites -- primarily from infected prairie dogs -- in rural areas of the southwestern United States. About one in seven of those infected die as a result. There has not been a case of person-to-person infection in the United States since 1924.
 
Worldwide, there have been small outbreaks in Asia, Africa, and South America. Globally, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports 1,000 to 3,000 cases of plague every year (see Where Is Plague? for more information).
 
Yersinia pestis infections occur more frequently during spring and summer months, especially in males and people under the age of 20.
 

Yersinia Pestis and Bioterrorism

Bioterrorism is a real threat to the United States and around the world. Although the United States does not currently expect a plague attack, it is possible that pneumonic plague could be transmitted through an aerosol distribution. The Yersinia pestis bacterium is widely available in microbiology banks around the world, and thousands of scientists have worked with it, making a biological attack a serious concern.
 
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD