Plague: The Disease,Yersinia pestisand its Genome

Abstract

Plague is a highly virulent, vector-borne disease of ancient antecedents, transmitted from members of the family Rodentia, through the bites of infected fleas. The disease, caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, presents itself in septicaemic, bubonic and pneumonic forms. The rat flea Xenopsylla cheopis is most often implicated in transmission. The plague remains one of the most dreaded infectious diseases, which has raised its head in western, northern and southern regions in the last few decades, being a category ‘A’ critical agent with a significant threat to public health and national security. Rapid antigen detection or nucleic acid-based molecular tests for plague are not widely available. Modern immunoprophylactic regimes for pre- and postgeneration vaccination are needed. Complete genome sequences unveiled for all four biotypes and other strains/isolates recently will help scientists gain insights into the genomic rearrangement and pathogenicity of the organism.