bubonic plague

(noun)

a contagious, often fatal, epidemic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, transmitted by the bite of fleas from an infected person or rodent, especially a rat, and characterized by delirium, chills, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, and the formation of buboes

Related Terms

Examples of bubonic plague in the following topics:

  • Plague

    • Human Y. pestis infection is manifested in three main forms: pneumonic, septicemic, and the notorious bubonic plagues.
    • Although bubonic plague is often used synonymously with plague, it refers specifically to an infection that enters through the skin and travels through the lymph nodes (buboes).
    • The incubation period of bubonic plague is from 2-6 days, while the bacteria actively replicate.
    • Pneumonic plague manifests as a severe lung infection, and is more virulent and rare than bubonic plague.
    • Scanning electron micrograph depicting a mass of Yersinia pestis bacteria (the cause of bubonic plague) in the foregut of the flea vector.

  • Arthropods as Vectors

    • The human flea, Pulex irritans, and the Oriental rat flea , Xenopsylla cheopis, are responsible for the transmission of the bubonic plague, murine typhus, and tapeworms.
    • The oriental rat flea is an example of an arthropod vector as it is the primary vector of plague.
    • This vector has been the cause of large plague epidemics in Asia, Africa, and South America.

  • Disease Reservoirs and Epidemics

    • Bubonic plague: marmots, black rats, prairie dogs, chipmunks, and squirrels for bubonic plague
    • The migrations of certain animals, such as rats, are in some cases responsible for the spread of plague, from which these animals die in great numbers.

  • Tularemia

    • Tularemia (also known as Pahvant Valley plague, rabbit fever, deer fly fever, and Ohara's fever) is a serious infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis.
    • Inflammation spreads to the lymph nodes, which enlarge and may suppurate (mimicking bubonic plague), accompanied by a high fever.

  • Koch and Pure Culture

    • By using his methods, Koch's pupils found the organisms responsible for diphtheria, typhoid, pneumonia, gonorrhoea, cerebrospinal meningitis, leprosy, bubonic plague, tetanus, and syphilis.

  • Siderophores

    • Pathogenic yersinia is responsible for numerous diseases including the bubonic plague .

  • The Cardiovascular System

    • The most distinctive symptom of bubonic plague is extreme swelling of one or more lymph nodes that bulge out of the skin as "buboes. " The buboes often become necrotic and may even rupture.

  • Ecology, Epidemiology, and Evolution of Pathogens

    • The Black Death (plague) of the 14th century reduced the world population from an estimated 450 million to 350 - 375 million .
    • An animation of the plague that spread through the world during the pandemic in the 14th century.

  • Gammaproteobacteria

    • (enteritis and typhoid fever), Yersinia pestis (plague), Vibrio cholerae (cholera), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (lung infections in hospitalized or cystic fibrosis patients), and Escherichia coli (food poisoning).

  • Bacterial Pneumonias

    • Pneumonia caused by Yersinia pestis is usually called pneumonic plague.