Molecular testing for Yersinia pestis is used for rapid and accurate laboratory diagnosis of plague.
More information
Yersinia pestis (formerly known as Pasteurella pestis) is a Gram-negative coccobacillus, a facultative anaerobic organism that can infect humans through the rat flea. It causes the deadly plague, which in man has three main forms: pulmonary, septic, and bubonic. All three forms have been responsible for a series of high mortality epidemics throughout human history.