Yersinia | Diarrhoeal diseases

Yersinia

Yersinia (Yersinia enterocolitica and Yersinia pseudotuberculosis) are a bacterial species that can be transmitted from animals to humans and thus cause diarrhoea. The transmission usually takes place via food such as dairy products and raw or insufficiently cooked meat.Classically, yersiniosis causes pain in the right lower abdomen, which means that yersiniosis (disease with yersinia) can often initially be confused with appendicitis. In contrast to many other bacterial diarrheal diseases, infection with Yersinia leads to long-lasting diarrhea with abdominal pain and sometimes nausea and vomiting for several weeks.

In severe cases, therapy with antibiotics can be carried out, otherwise a sufficient amount of drinking and a light diet is usually sufficient to treat Yersiniosis. In people with certain genetic conditions (HLA-B27 patients), infection with yersinia can also lead to skin and joint inflammation. Another bacterial species of Yersinia (Yersinia pestis) was also responsible for the plague epidemics.

However, these are no longer present in our latitudes. Do you want to learn more about Yersinia pestis?