pneumonic plague

(noun)

a severe type of lung infection, one of three main forms of plague, all of which are caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis

Related Terms

Examples of pneumonic plague in the following topics:

  • Plague

    • Human Y. pestis infection is manifested in three main forms: pneumonic, septicemic, and the notorious bubonic plagues.
    • The plague also has a detrimental effect on non-human mammals.
    • 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).
    • Pneumonic plague manifests as a severe lung infection, and is more virulent and rare than bubonic plague.
    • Finally, Y. pestis expresses a plasminogen activator that is an important virulence factor for pneumonic plague, which may also degrade on blood clots in order to facilitate systematic invasion.

  • Bacterial Pneumonias

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

  • 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.
    • Depending on the site of infection, tularemia has six characteristic clinical symptoms: ulceroglandular, glandular, oropharyngeal, pneumonic, oculoglandular, and typhoidal.
    • Inflammation spreads to the lymph nodes, which enlarge and may suppurate (mimicking bubonic plague), accompanied by a high fever.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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.

  • 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).

  • Defining Microbes

    • The organisms involved include pathogenic bacteria, which are the cause of diseases such as plague, tuberculosis and anthrax.

  • 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 .