Yersinia pestis is a motile, pleomorphic, and gram negative bacterium of the bacillus type. It protects itself well after encountering an animal’s immune system but does not last long in the open environment.
The name by which the bubonic plague came to be known was related to the formation of black boils in the armpits, neck and groin of infected people, which were caused by dried blood accumulating under the skin internal bleeding.
Bubonic plague is naturally a disease of animals. It jumps to human, becoming a zoonosis. Fleas infected with plague carry the bacteria in their digestive systems. When they bite a human, the bacteria are released into the human’s body and travel to the lymph nodes.
At this time, a victim begins suffering from a fever, headaches and muscle pain. Then two to six days after being infected, the person’s lymph nodes become swollen.
If untreated, it often is fatal to humans. Treatment is accomplished by application of antibiotics , often streptomycin, but early detection in important. Most victims died horribly, shortly after symptoms appeared.
Bubonic plague
