Yersinia pestis Y. pestis, has a rodent reservoir The rodents fleas such as the oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis acquire Y pestis from a meal of infected blood and transmit the bacterium primarily to other rodents or to humans, causing bubonic plague in peopl Human-to-human transmission can Rat infected with Yersinia pestis N also take place, through the human flea Pulex irritans RURAL Bubonic Pneumonic plague is less frequent Bubonic but even more severe. it is Pneumon URBAN transmitted from person to person through respiratory droplets,or even by artificially generated Natur413,467-470 aerosols, containing Y. pestisYersinia pestis • Y. pestis, has a rodent reservoir. The rodents' fleas, such as the oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis, acquire Y. pestis from a meal of infected blood, and transmit the bacterium primarily to other rodents or to humans, causing bubonic plague in people. • Human-to-human transmission can also take place, through the human flea Pulex irritans. • Pneumonic plague is less frequent but even more severe; it is transmitted from person to person through respiratory droplets, or even by artificially generated aerosols, containing Y. pestis. © Nature 413, 467-470