Abstract
Yersinia pestis, the etiologic agent of plague, has shaped the course of human history, killing millions of people in three major pandemics. This bacterium is still endemic in parts of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, where it poses a natural disease threat to human populations. Y. pestis has also recently received attention as a possible bioterrorism agent. Thus, rapid methods to distinguish between bioterrorism and naturally occurring plague infections are of major importance. Our study is the first to demonstrate that variable-number tandem repeats (VNTRs) in the Y. pestis genome can link human case isolates to those obtained from suspected environmental sources of infection. We demonstrate the valuable utility of VNTR markers in epidemiological investigations of naturally occurring plague and the forensic analysis of possible bioterrorism events.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 650-656 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Clinical Microbiology |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Feb 2005 |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Microbiology (medical)
- Microbiology
Cite this
Identifying sources of human exposure to plague. / Lowell, Jennifer L.; Wagner, David M; Atshabar, Bakyt; Antolin, Michael F.; Vogler, Amy J.; Keim, Paul S; Chu, May C.; Gage, Kenneth L.
In: Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Vol. 43, No. 2, 02.2005, p. 650-656.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Identifying sources of human exposure to plague
AU - Lowell, Jennifer L.
AU - Wagner, David M
AU - Atshabar, Bakyt
AU - Antolin, Michael F.
AU - Vogler, Amy J.
AU - Keim, Paul S
AU - Chu, May C.
AU - Gage, Kenneth L.
PY - 2005/2
Y1 - 2005/2
N2 - Yersinia pestis, the etiologic agent of plague, has shaped the course of human history, killing millions of people in three major pandemics. This bacterium is still endemic in parts of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, where it poses a natural disease threat to human populations. Y. pestis has also recently received attention as a possible bioterrorism agent. Thus, rapid methods to distinguish between bioterrorism and naturally occurring plague infections are of major importance. Our study is the first to demonstrate that variable-number tandem repeats (VNTRs) in the Y. pestis genome can link human case isolates to those obtained from suspected environmental sources of infection. We demonstrate the valuable utility of VNTR markers in epidemiological investigations of naturally occurring plague and the forensic analysis of possible bioterrorism events.
AB - Yersinia pestis, the etiologic agent of plague, has shaped the course of human history, killing millions of people in three major pandemics. This bacterium is still endemic in parts of Asia, Africa, and the Americas, where it poses a natural disease threat to human populations. Y. pestis has also recently received attention as a possible bioterrorism agent. Thus, rapid methods to distinguish between bioterrorism and naturally occurring plague infections are of major importance. Our study is the first to demonstrate that variable-number tandem repeats (VNTRs) in the Y. pestis genome can link human case isolates to those obtained from suspected environmental sources of infection. We demonstrate the valuable utility of VNTR markers in epidemiological investigations of naturally occurring plague and the forensic analysis of possible bioterrorism events.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=13844276555&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=13844276555&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1128/JCM.43.2.650-656.2005
DO - 10.1128/JCM.43.2.650-656.2005
M3 - Article
VL - 43
SP - 650
EP - 656
JO - Journal of Clinical Microbiology
JF - Journal of Clinical Microbiology
SN - 0095-1137
IS - 2
ER -