A cold-tolerant gut pathogen, often traced to pork, whose pain can be mistaken for appendicitis. Explore its illustrative 3D model, human context, and sources.
Y. enterocolitica causes yersiniosis. CDC describes fever, abdominal pain and diarrhea that can be bloody in young children, while older children and adults more often have fever and right-sided abdominal pain that can be confused with appendicitis. Infection is commonly linked to raw or undercooked pork, including contact with someone who has prepared chitlins. The organism tolerates cold: PHAC records survival for 448 days in water between minus 4 and 8 degrees Celsius, and it is motile at room temperature but non-motile at 37 degrees Celsius. Only certain serogroups cause human disease.
PHAC records six biotypes and about 50 serogroups, of which only certain ones cause human disease, with different serogroups predominating in different regions. CDC states children are more likely than adults to get infected, and that mesenteric adenitis can present as pain mimicking appendicitis, which affects how the illness is investigated rather than how severe it is.
Original schematic 3D phenotype. PHAC describes a Gram-negative, coccoid-shaped, non-spore-forming bacillus 0.5-0.8 by 1-3 micrometres, a facultative anaerobe that is motile at room temperature but non-motile at 37 degrees Celsius. Flagella are therefore conditional on temperature and should be labelled as such if depicted; no capsule or endospore is described. Colours, dimensions, layer thicknesses and displayed arrangements are diagram choices, not a measured individual cell. Independent scientific review remains pending.
Source check: 2026-09-19. Educational content; independent scientific review remains pending.