Volume 24, Number 2—February 2018
Research
Yersinia pestis Survival and Replication in Potential Ameba Reservoir
Figure 1

Figure 1. Infection pathways for plague. During plague epizootics, transmission occurs through flea vectors within meta-populations of ground-dwelling rodents. It is unknown by what route or mechanism Yersinia pestis is maintained during interepizootic periods of plague quiescence. Previous research on fleas has not strongly supported their reservoir potential across interepizootic periods (3). The experiment and analysis of this study test the hypothesis that amoeboid species demonstrate reservoir potential for Y. pestis. If Y. pestis is maintained within ameba reservoirs, we suspect that epizootic recrudescence may occur when infected soilborne amebae enter the bloodstream of naive rodent hosts (by entering wounds from antagonistic host-to-host interactions or burrowing activities). Amebae typically lyse when incubated at 37°C and simultaneously release their intracellular cargo, potentially initiating an infection.
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- Page last updated: January 17, 2018
- Page last reviewed: January 17, 2018
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