Bacterium
Yersinia enterocolitica
Cold-tolerant enteric rod, pseudoappendicitis
yer-SIN-ee-uh en-ter-oh-koh-LIT-ih-kuh
High-yield clue
Cold-tolerant (grows at 4C) enteric rod linked to pork and causing right-lower-quadrant pseudoappendicitis vocabulary.
Overview
A Gram-negative enteric rod that grows at refrigeration temperatures and is a study example of foodborne enterocolitis with mesenteric lymphadenitis that mimics appendicitis.
Classification
- Gram-negative
- Coccobacillus/rod
- Enterobacterales
- Facultative anaerobe
- Psychrotolerant
Lab & identification clues
- Cold enrichment growth vocabulary
- Motile at 25C, non-motile at 37C concept
- Urease positive vocabulary
- Bipolar staining teaching note
Associations
- Contaminated pork and dairy transmission vocabulary
- Pseudoappendicitis presentation vocabulary
- Reactive arthritis association concept
Commonly confused with
- Yersinia pestis
- Campylobacter jejuni
Your notes
Original student-study summary. Sources checked: OpenStax Microbiology 2e, NCBI Bookshelf Medical Microbiology, and CDC topic pages where applicable; reviewed 2026-06. Educational only; no diagnosis, treatment, dosing, or specimen-handling guidance.