Yersinia enterocolitica

The genus Yersinia is named in honor of the French bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin (1863-1943), who discovered the bacillus of bubonic plague in 1894 and prepared a serum to combat the disease. They are nutritionally fastidious, Gram-negative, non-sporeforming, rod-shaped bacteria. There are 3 pathogenic species in the genus; Y. pestis is the causative agent of plague, while Y. enterocolitica and Y. pseudotuberculosis cause gastroenteritis.

Only a few strains of Y. enterocolitica cause illness in humans, and the major animal reservoir for Y. enterocolitica strains that cause human illness are pigs. To date, no foodborne outbreaks caused by Y. pseudotuberculosis have been reported in the United States, but human infections transmitted via contaminated water and foods have been reported in Japan.

The symptoms of Yersiniosis vary depending on the age of the person infected. Children are infected more often than adults, and in young children common symptoms are fever, abdominal pain, and diarrhea, which is often bloody. In older children and adults, right-sided abdominal pain and fever are hallmark symptoms, resulting in misdiagnosis as appendicitis. The bacteria may also cause infections of other sites, such as wounds, joints and the urinary tract. In rare cases complications such as skin rash, joint pains, or septicemia can occur.

Organism	Isolate/Strain	Genomic Sequence Status	Query Annotations	Browse Genome
Yersinia enterocolitica
Yersinia enterocolitica	8081	Sequencing complete

Immune Epitope Database Links:
Yersinia enterocolitica

Web Resources:
NCBI's MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Enteritis
CDC Disease Information page: Yersinia enterocolitica
FDA's Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition: Yersinia enterocolitica
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