BiodefenseEducation.org: YersiniaPestis

Yersinia Pestis - Trawler steamed into germ warfare site and no one said a word

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Mon, 19 Sep 2005 08:52:14 GMT

Daily Telegraph - Winston Churchill's government was prepared to let Blackpool suffer the Black Death rather than admit experimenting with germ warfare in 1952.

Yersinia Pestis - Mice infected with plague missing from lab

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Fri, 16 Sep 2005 10:04:44 GMT

Associated Press - Three mice infected with the bacteria responsible for bubonic plague apparently disappeared from a laboratory about two weeks ago, and authorities launched a search though health experts said there was scant public risk.

Yersinia Pestis - Novel plague virulence factor identified

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Sat, 27 Aug 2005 10:24:27 GMT

Eureka Alert [European Molecular Biology Organization Reports] - Researchers have identified a previously unknown family of virulence factors that make the bacterium responsible for the plague especially efficient at killing its host.

Yersinia Pestis - Two studies reveal how plague disables immune system

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Tue, 02 Aug 2005 10:18:15 GMT

News-Medical.Net [Science] [Infection and Immunity] - Two studies show how the bacteria that cause the plague manage to outsmart the immune system and how, by slightly altering one of the microbe's tools, the researchers produced what may be the first safe and effective vaccine.

Yersinia Pestis - Plague outbreak highlighted ongoing problem in Africa

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Sat, 28 May 2005 11:08:13 GMT

CIDRAP - The plot of the world's latest pneumonic plague outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo echoes with history.

Yersinia Pestis - Science Moving Closer to Plague Vaccine

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Wed, 18 May 2005 09:45:53 GMT

Health Central - American scientists say they've taken a step toward developing a vaccine against the plague, an ancient disease that could pose a new threat in the age of bioterrorism. The researchers say an experimental vaccine appears to protect mice against the inhaled form of the plague -- caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis -- raising hopes it might also work in humans.

Yersinia Pestis - US, UK, Canada to jointly test plague vaccines

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 09:28:45 GMT

CIDRAP - The US Department of Defense has announced plans to collaborate with the defense departments of Canada and the United Kingdom to develop a vaccine for plague, which would fill an empty slot in the nation's current vaccine arsenal.

Yersinia Pestis - The Black Death, brought to life

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Thu, 31 Mar 2005 11:01:21 GMT

Philadelphia Enquirer - A review of the new book entitled "The Great Mortality."

Yersinia Pestis - WHO reports 130 suspected plague cases in Congo

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Wed, 16 Mar 2005 11:24:23 GMT

CIDRAP - The World Health Organization said today it has found 130 suspected cases of plague, 57 of them fatal, in its ongoing investigation of an outbreak in the northeastern Congo.

Yersinia Pestis - The End of the World / Journals of the Plague Years

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Thu, 28 Apr 2005 08:23:52 GMT

New Yorker - A review of the new book "The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time"

Yersinia Pestis - DR Congo plague outbreak spreads

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Thu, 24 Feb 2005 11:25:24 GMT

BBC - An outbreak of what tests suggest is pneumonic plague has spread to a second town in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to Medecins Sans Frontieres.

Yersinia Pestis - Pneumonic plague outbreak in Congo sparks WHO response

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Sat, 19 Feb 2005 11:02:06 GMT

CIDRAP - An unusual outbreak of pneumonic plague that has killed at least 61 people and potentially sickened hundreds of others is the focus of a World Health Organization (WHO) mission in a war-torn area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

More from the BBC - Plague outbreak kills 60 in Congo.

Yersina Pestis - Vaccine that may provide protection for the plague goes to clinical trials.

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Wed, 12 Jan 2005 11:01:47 GMT

Canadian Press - The first phase of clinical trials on a potential vaccine for the Black Death has begun.

Yersinia Pestis - Burning Lesson

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Mon, 10 Jan 2005 11:59:19 GMT

Honolulu Star Bulletin - A look at how the Black Plague was battled in Honolulu in 1900.

Yersina Pestis - A Plague On Many Houses

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Sun, 05 Dec 2004 11:27:07 GMT

News Wise - During its life cycle, Y. pestis, the infamous "Black Death" bacteria must survive the "bio" environment of a flea in order to explode in the vastly different human system. A team turned advanced robotic high-throughput technologies on Y. pestis, looking for weaknesses in this highly adaptable killer.

Yersina Pestis - Plague in China's Northwest Kills Eight

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Thu, 28 Oct 2004 11:42:25 GMT

Associated Press - Eight Chinese villagers have died of plague in the country's northwest, most of them infected after killing or eating wild marmots

Yersinia Pestis - Breeding the Plague

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Fri, 22 Oct 2004 09:53:49 GMT

Moscow Times - When the Black Death swept across Europe in the 14th century, it wiped out one-third of the continent's population. Today, with terrorism spreading around the globe, it wouldn't be much of a stretch to call it a plague. Especially if plague were to become its weapon of choice, as it was for scientists in the Soviet Union. A review of the book entitled "Plague : The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World's Most Dangerous Disease."

Yersenia Pestis - Plague organism shed genes as it grew more lethal

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Thu, 16 Sep 2004 09:39:57 GMT

CIDRAP [Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences] - The bacterium that causes plague, Yersinia pestis, may have acquired its lethal traits by shedding genes found in a closely related bacterium that is less dangerous, according to a recent study.

Yersinia Pestis - Bubonic plague reappears in China

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Thu, 02 Sep 2004 11:01:07 GMT

Reuters -- Bubonic plague has killed one person and made another sick in China.

Yersinia Pestis - A plague on all your houses

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Sat, 14 Aug 2004 11:49:11 GMT

The Guardian - A review of the books "Return of the Black Death: The World's Greatest Serial Killer" and "The Black Death 1346-1353: The Complete History."

Yersinia Pestis - New book Plague, by Wendy Orent, tells terrific and terrifying tale

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Thu, 05 Aug 2004 10:01:51 GMT

Associated Press - A review of the new book entitled "Plague: The Mysterious Past and Terrifying Future of the World's Most Dangerous Disease."

Yersinia Pestis - Prairie Dogs Yield Bioterrorism Insight

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Wed, 14 Jul 2004 10:27:31 GMT

NPR - In a typical year, several people in the United States come down with an unusual disease: the plague. It's often transmitted by fleas that carry it from prairie dogs or other rodents.

But there's another possible source of plague infection -- bioterrorist attacks. The plague ranks high on the list of biological weapons that might be used in a terrorist attack; a single bacterium in the lungs can trigger the disease. So scientists are searching for a way to quickly determine if a case is natural or criminal.

For answers, they're turning to prairie dogs living outside Flagstaff, Ariz.

Yersinia Pestis - Researchers reexamine bubonic plague

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Mon, 24 May 2004 12:22:14 GMT

United Press International - Two researchers in Great Britain are challenging long-held views about one of history's worst killers, the Black Death, and say it could return.

Yersinia Pestis - Mouse Model Mimics Real-World Plague Infection - Initial Vaccine Tested in Model Looks Promising

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Thu, 25 Mar 2004 12:46:08 GMT

NIH [Infection and Immunity] - An experimental plague vaccine proved 100 percent effective when tested in a new mouse model for plague infection developed by scientists at Rocky Mountain Laboratories.

Yersinia Pestis - Bubonic Plague Traced to Ancient Egypt

Michael P. D'Alessandro — Thu, 11 Mar 2004 12:53:34 GMT

National Geographic - The bubonic plague, or Black Death, may have originated in ancient Egypt, according to a new study.