Yersinia pestis

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Yersinia pestis

Any isolate with the following features should be immediately referred to your LRN reference laboratory:

  • Gram stain shows fat, gram-negative rods in single or short chains that may demonstrate bipolar staining
  • Faster growth at 25oC
  • Gray-white, translucent colonies on sheep blood agar (SBA) at 24 hours that turn slightly yellow and opaque at 48 hours
  • Irregular colonies that have a "fried egg" and/or "hammered copper" appearance after 48-72 hours
  • Catalase positive
  • Oxidase negative
  • Urea negative
  • Indole negative