YERSINIA PESTIS

CHARACTERISTICS

• Rod-shaped
• 1-2 mm x 0.5 mm
• Causes the bubonic plague
• Typically spread by animals

GROWTH CONDITIONS

• 28° C.
• pH of 6-8
• Colony doubles in 1.25 hours
• Can exist in many levels of oxygen
• Requires carbon for nutrition

One Fact:
Y. pestis was most prevalent between the 1100s and the 1300s, when it killed 75 - 200 million people; however, the first outbreak was in the 500s and the plague still exists today.