Yersinia

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A genus of bacteria known to cause diseases such as plague and gastroenteritis in humans and animals
2. A group of bacteria, primarily including pathogenic species, that are associated with serious infections, especially in rodents and humans
3. An important genus in the family Enterobacteriaceae, comprising bacteria that play a significant role in various zoonotic diseases

Etymology: Yersinia is named after Alexandre Yersin, the Swiss-French bacteriologist who identified the plague bacillus during the 1894 Hong Kong plague outbreak. The genus was named in his honour, and the word reached English as a borrowing of the Translingual scientific name, so it carries no older meaning in any language. Its form follows the standard pattern of taxonomic names: a personal name given the Latin-style ending "-ia" to mark it as a genus. The bacteria it covers include the one behind bubonic plague, "Yersinia pestis", as well as species linked to gastroenteritis. Like many genus names, the word is a tribute that outlived its original context, turning a single researcher's surname into a permanent label for a whole group of microbes.

Synonyms: Yersinia (bacteria genus), bacterial genus Yersinia