Progress in researches on drug-resistance of Yersinia pestis

Currently, there is no effective vaccine to prevent plague and the only way to deal with the disease is the use of antibiotics. Streptomycin, an aminoglycoside antibiotic, is the most effective drug recommended by World Health Organization for the treatment of plague, especially for pneumonic plague. Since the clinical treatment of Yersinia pestis (Y. pestis) with streptomycin in the 1940s, Y. pestis resistant to streptomycin and drug-resistant Y. pestis have appeared gradually under experimental conditions and in nature at home and abroad, and drug-resistance of Y. pestis has attracted widespread attention. The study summarizes the research progress in antimicrobial agents and drug resistance of Y. pestis at home and abroad. Although Y. pestis with strong tolerance to streptomycin and other conventional drugs has not yet been found in China, but the decline in sensitivity of Y. pestis to conventional drugs has been observed, indicating that the monitoring on drug resistant Y. pestis strains is still a regular work.