Far Eastern Scarlet-Like Fever is a Special Clinical and Epidemic Manifestation of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Infection in Russia

Abstract

Pseudotuberculosis in humans until the 1950s was found in different countries of the world as a rare sporadic disease that occurred in the form of acute appendicitis and mesenteric lymphadenitis. In Russia and Japan, the Yersinia pseudotuberculosis (Y. pseudotuberculosis) infection often causes outbreaks of the disease with serious systemic inflammatory symptoms, and this variant of the disease has been known since 1959 as Far Eastern Scarlet-like Fever (FESLF). Russian researchers have proven that the FESLF pathogen is associated with a concrete clonal line of Y. pseudotuberculosis, characterized by a specific plasmid profile (pVM82, pYV 48 MDa), sequence (2ST) and yadA gene allele (1st allele). This review summarized the most important achievements in the study of FESLF since its discovery in the Far East. It has been established that the FESLF causative agent is characterized by a unique phenomenon of psychrophilicity, which consists of its ability to reproduce in the environment with its biologically low and variable temperature (4–12 °C), at which the pathogen multiplies and accumulates while maintaining or increasing its virulence, which ensures the emergence and development of the epidemic process. The key genetic and biochemical mechanisms of Y. pseudotuberculosis adaptation to changing environmental conditions were characterized, and the morphological manifestations of the adaptive variability of these bacteria in different conditions of their habitat were revealed. The main features of the pathogenesis and morphogenesis of FESLF, including those associated with the Y. pseudotuberculosis toxigenicity, were presented. The pathogenetic value of the plasmid PVM82, found only in the FESLF pathogen, was shown.

Past Endemic Izumi Fever or <i>Yersinia pseudotuberculosis</i> Infection Reappears Sporadically

“…Further epidemics in Japan in 1977 led to the discovery that the disease was caused by Y. pseudotuberculosis by isolating the organism from the stool specimens obtained from many patients ( 2 ). In addition, several epidemics of Y. pseudotuberculosis infection have been reported in Vladivostok and other Russian Far East areas ( 4 ) since 1959. Because the initial symptoms resembled scarlet fever, the disease was named FESLF ( 1 ).…”

Extraintestinal Manifestation of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis Bacteremia as Acute Hepatitis: Case Report and Review of the Literature

“…Outbreaks of serious systemic infection, identified as FESLF and caused by a severe form of Y. pseudotuberculosis infection, have occurred [8]. The lipopolysaccharide core of Y. pseudotuberculosis mediates the expression of CD209 receptors on antigen-presenting cells, which explains bacterial dissemination to the mesenteric lymph nodes, spleen, and liver [9].…”

First description of aYersinia pseudotuberculosisclonal outbreak in France, confirmed using a new core genome multilocus sequence typing method

“…Y. pseudotuberculosis ( Yptb ) can cause an invasive infection, leading to bacteremia in elderly patients or in individuals presenting underlying medical disorders (diabetes, cirrhosis, iron overload) (3). Most of the Yptb associated-cases are sporadic, but some outbreaks have been reported in different parts of the world, including Japan (4), Canada (5), Europe (6), Russia (7) and more recently in New Zealand (8). The reservoir of Yptb is mostly wild mammals (particularly rodents, lagomorphs, wild boars) and birds.…”