plague
Sign in to savespecific contagious and frequently fatal human disease caused by Yersinia pestis
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Plague is a serious contagious disease caused by bacteria called Yersinia pestis that spreads from person to person and often results in death. It matters because throughout history it has killed large numbers of people and remains a significant public health concern today.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
Plague is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Symptoms include fever, weakness, headache and black lips. Usually, this begins one to seven days after exposure. There are three forms of plague, each affecting a different part of the body and causing associated symptoms. Pneumonic plague infects the lungs, causing shortness of breath, coughing and chest pain; bubonic plague affects the lymph nodes, making them swell; and septicemic plague infects the blood and can cause tissues to turn black and die.
The bubonic and septicemic forms are generally spread by flea bites or handling an infected animal, whereas pneumonic plague is generally spread between people through the air via infectious droplets. Diagnosis is typically made by finding the bacterium in fluid from a lymph node, blood or sputum.