Two distinct subspecies of plague associated with differences in geographical elevation
(PLOS) Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in America have carried out a genetic study of plague caused by the bacteria Yersinia pestis in Uganda. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - February 11, 2016 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
The Good Side of Viruses
While we have extensively studied the role of bacteria that call our bodies' home, we have yet to achieve that level of understanding with viruses. In fact, the study of the populations of viruses that exist in the human body, the virome, is in its infancy. We generally consider viruses an enemy that can cause diseases from the common cold to Ebola. New viruses are discovered regularly and scientists are beginning to appreciate the diversity of viruses and their roles in nature. Some don't infect people at all, while others are actually beneficial members of the human microbiome. The microbiome is the collection of micro...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - February 3, 2016 Category: Science Source Type: news
Determination of the Persistence of Non-Spore-Forming Biological Threat Agents in the Environment
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Homeland Security Research Center. 12/07/2015This 35-page report presents the results of an investigation to evaluate the persistence (or natural attenuation) of Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis), Francisella tularensis (F. tularensis), and Burkholderia mallei (B. mallei) on glass and soil under multiple environmental conditions and time points. This generation of scientifically defensible persistence data is useful for the proper planning of decontamination efficacy tests and for formulation of response or remediation plans in preparation for pos...
Source: Disaster Lit: Resource Guide for Disaster Medicine and Public Health - January 17, 2016 Category: Global & Universal Authors: The U.S. National Library of Medicine Source Type: news
The plague's deadly pedigree goes back 3,000 years earlier than thought
Turns out the plague was, er, plaguing humans far earlier than once thought. A study of ancient DNA pulled from human teeth in Asia and Europe finds that the bacteria Yersinia pestis had infected humans as far back as 2,800 to 5,000 years ago – perhaps three millenniums earlier than expected. The... (Source: Los Angeles Times - Science)
Source: Los Angeles Times - Science - October 23, 2015 Category: Science Authors: Amina Khan Source Type: news
Matter: In Ancient DNA, Evidence of Plague Much Earlier Than Previously Known
A new study suggests that Yersinia pestis, which causes plague, infected people as long as 5,000 years ago. (Source: NYT Health)
Source: NYT Health - October 22, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: CARL ZIMMER Tags: Genetics and Heredity DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) Russia Willerslev, Eske Siberia Plague Poland Europe Bubonic Plague Current Biology (Journal) Source Type: news
Plague infected humans much earlier than previously thought
(Cell Press) Plague infections were common in humans 3,300 years earlier than the historical record suggests, reports a study published in Cell. By sequencing the DNA of tooth samples from Bronze Age individuals, the researchers discovered evidence of plague infections roughly 4,800 years ago. But it was at least another thousand years until the bacterium, Yersinia pestis, acquired key changes in virulence genes, allowing it to spread via fleas and evade the host immune system. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - October 22, 2015 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Medical News Today: One small bacterial change 'caused Black Death'
How did Yersinia pestis bacteria transform from a simple GI infection to causing history-changing respiratory plague pandemics? A new study says it took just one gene. (Source: Health News from Medical News Today)
Source: Health News from Medical News Today - July 1, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Source Type: news
Minor changes turned Black Death germ from mild to murderous
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The bacterium Yersinia pestis has inflicted almost unimaginable misery upon humankind over the centuries, killing an estimated 200 million or more people and triggering horrific plagues in the 6th and 14th centuries. (Source: Reuters: Health)
Source: Reuters: Health - June 30, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Tags: healthNews Source Type: news
How small genetic change in Yersinia pestis changed human history
While studying Yersinia pestis, the bacteria responsible for epidemics of plague such as the Black Death, scientists found a single small genetic change that fundamentally influenced the evolution of the deadly pathogen, and thus the course of human history. They demonstrated how the acquisition of a single gene caused the shift of Y. pestis from causing a primarily gastrointestinal infection to a more serious and often fatal respiratory disease and how later modifications lead to infections associated with the bubonic plague. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - June 30, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
How small genetic change in Yersinia pestis changed human history
(Northwestern University) While studying Yersinia pestis, the bacteria responsible for epidemics of plague such as the Black Death, scientists found a single small genetic change that fundamentally influenced the evolution of the deadly pathogen, and thus the course of human history. They demonstrated how the acquisition of a single gene caused the shift of Y. pestis from causing a primarily gastrointestinal infection to a more serious and often fatal respiratory disease and how later modifications lead to infections associated with the bubonic plague. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - June 30, 2015 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news
Forms of the Plague: Transmission, Symptoms & Prevention
The bacteria that causes plague, 'Yersinia pestis,' continues to exist in a cycle involving rodents and the fleas they carry. In urban areas or places with thick rat infestations, the plague bacteria may cycle between rodents and their fleas. The last urban outbreak of rat-associated plague in America happened in the city of Los Angeles between the year of 1924-1925. (Source: Disabled World)
Source: Disabled World - June 24, 2015 Category: Disability Tags: Health and Disability Source Type: news
CDC Report Shows Vibrio, A Deadly Type Of Food Poisoning, Is On The Rise
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention issued a new report on food safety this week that had a little good news, and quite a bit of bad news, for American consumers.
The report, which is based on data collected by the CDC's FoodNet program, compared food poisoning rates in two three-year periods, 2006-2008 and 2011-2013. It showed that infections caused by the dangerous O157 strain of E. coli, which caused the notorious Jack in the Box food poisoning outbreak of 1993, declined by 32 percent between those two periods. Sicknesses associated with Yersinia and Salmonella serotype Typhimurium also dipped over that sam...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - May 16, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
CDC Report Shows Vibrio, A Deadly Type Of Food Poisoning, Is On The Rise
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention issued a new report on food safety this week that had a little good news, and quite a bit of bad news, for American consumers.
The report, which is based on data collected by the CDC's FoodNet program, compared food poisoning rates in two three-year periods, 2006-2008 and 2011-2013. It showed that infections caused by the dangerous O157 strain of E. coli, which caused the notorious Jack in the Box food poisoning outbreak of 1993, declined by 32 percent between those two periods. Sicknesses associated with Yersinia and Salmonella serotype Typhimurium also dipped over that sam...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - May 16, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news
Colorado Plague Outbreak Traced Back To Pet Dog
Researchers have traced a 2014 outbreak of plague in Colorado back to a pit bull, according to a new report by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
A Colorado man identified only as “Patient A” fell ill in late June and was incorrectly diagnosed with pneumonia, according to Friday's report. More than a week later, doctors determined his fever, coughing and bloody mucus were caused by the bacteria Yersinia Pestis, which causes plague.
Doctors diagnosed the man with pneumonic plague, meaning the infection was in his lungs. It took 23 days in the hospital for him to recover, according to the report.
...
Source: Science - The Huffington Post - May 1, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
Bubonic bottleneck: Scientists overturn dogma on the plague
Researchers discover that the accepted theory of how Yersinia pestis microbes travel from fleabite to lymph node is off base. Most bacteria get trapped in a bottleneck and never make it to the lymph node, where infection takes root. Finding out why could lead to new ways to stop the pathogen. (Source: ScienceDaily Headlines)
Source: ScienceDaily Headlines - February 12, 2015 Category: Science Source Type: news
