Yersinia pseudotuberculosis: an unexpected cause of fever and a hot joint

What is it about?

This case of a Jamaican man who had an unexpected cause of his fever and swollen knee; Yersinia pseudotuberculousis. This bacterium, which is closely related to the plague (Yersinia pestis), is spread drinking contaminated water and usually causes a self limiting illness. More severe disease usually only occur when the person has immunocompromised or other illnesses e.g. diabetes. Interestingly, this man had no risk factors and developed extremely rare complications of blood stream infection and infection of the knee joint.

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