Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2003 Apr;69(4):2166-71.
doi: 10.1128/AEM.69.4.2166-2171.2003.

Survival of Yersinia pestis on environmental surfaces

Laura J Rose  1 , Rodney Donlan, Shailen N Banerjee, Matthew J Arduino
Affiliations

Survival of Yersinia pestis on environmental surfaces

Laura J Rose et al. Appl Environ Microbiol. 2003 Apr.

Abstract

The survival of two strains of Yersinia pestis (avirulent A1122 and virulent Harbin) on the surfaces of four materials was investigated. Viability was evaluated with epifluorescence microscopy by using the metabolic stain cyanoditolyl tetrazolium chloride and plate counts. Small numbers of cells suspended in phosphate buffer survived 2 to 4 h after visible drying on stainless steel, polyethylene, or glass and beyond 48 h on paper. Cells suspended in brain heart infusion broth (BHI) persisted more than 72 h on stainless steel, polyethylene, and glass. Small numbers of cells suspended in BHI were still viable at 120 h on paper. These data suggest that Y. pestis maintains viability for extended periods (last measured at 5 days) under controlled conditions.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Survival of Y. pestis A1122 on stainless steel over time. y axis numbers represent log10 cells as counted under epifluorescence microscopy (CTC- and DAPI-stained cells, mean of three to nine coupons) or in CFU (mean of 3 to 18 coupons).
FIG. 2.
FIG. 2.
Paper coupon without bacteria.
FIG. 3.
FIG. 3.
Y. pestis Harbin dried on paper coupon for 5 days at 55% RH.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. American Society of Mechanical Engineers Standards Committee B46. 1996. ASME B46.1-1995. Surface texture (surface roughness, waviness, and lay): an American national standard. American Society of Mechanical Engineers, New York, N.Y.
    1. Brozel, V. S., G. M. Strydom, and T. E. Cloete. 1995. A method for the study of de novo protein synthesis in Pseudomonas aeruginosa after attachment. Biofouling 8:195-201.
    1. Dalton, H. M., L. K. Poulsen, P. Halasz, M. L. Angles, A. E. Goodman, and K. C. Marshall. 1994. Substratum-induced morphological changes in a marine bacterium and their relevance to biofilm structure. J. Bacteriol. 176:6900-6906. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Davies, D. G., and G. G. Geesey. 1995. Regulation of the alginate biosynthesis gene algC in Pseudomonas aeruginosa during biofilm development in continuous culture. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61:860-867. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Davies, D. G., A. M. Chakrabarty, and G. G. Geesey. 1993. Exopolysaccharide production in biofilms: substratum activation of alginate gene expression by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 59:1181-1186. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources