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ABSTRACT A recent and prevalent mutation in the chemokine receptor CCR5 in humans of northern European ancestry has been proposed to provide protection against bubonic plague1,2. Here we

infect both normal and CCR5-deficient mice with the bacterium _Yersinia pestis_, the cause of the plague epidemics that wiped out one-third of Europeans in the Middle Ages3, and find no

difference in either bacterial growth or survival time between the two groups. Unless the pathogenesis of _Yersinia_ infection differs markedly between mice and humans, our results indicate

that CCR5 deficiency in people is unlikely to protect against plague. Access through your institution Buy or subscribe This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

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about institutional subscriptions * Read our FAQs * Contact customer support SIMILAR CONTENT BEING VIEWED BY OTHERS AN _IGHG1_ VARIANT EXHIBITS POLARIZED PREVALENCE AND CONFERS ENHANCED IGG1

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Article Open access 24 October 2024 TLR7 DEFICIENCY ENHANCES INFLAMMATION IN THE URT BUT REDUCES LRT IMMUNITY FOLLOWING INFLUENZA A INFECTION Article Open access 29 May 2025 REFERENCES *

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Acad. Sci. USA_ 100, 15276–15279 (2003). Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar  Download references AUTHOR INFORMATION Author notes * Joan Mecsas Present address: Department of Microbiology and

Molecular Biology, Tufts University, Boston, Massachusetts, 02111, USA * William A. Kuziel Present address: Protein Design Labs, Fremont, California, 94555, USA AUTHORS AND AFFILIATIONS *

Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, 94305-5402, California, USA Joan Mecsas & Stanley Falkow * Department of Immunology, The

Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, 92037, California, USA Greg Franklin & Donald E. Mosier * Section of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology and Institute of Cellular and Molecular

Biology, University of Texas at Austin, Texas, 78712, USA William A. Kuziel * Department of Microbiology, Michigan State University, East Lansing, 48824-1101, Michigan, USA Robert R.

Brubaker Authors * Joan Mecsas View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Greg Franklin View author publications You can also search for this

author inPubMed Google Scholar * William A. Kuziel View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Robert R. Brubaker View author publications You can

also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Stanley Falkow View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar * Donald E. Mosier View author

publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar CORRESPONDING AUTHOR Correspondence to Donald E. Mosier. ETHICS DECLARATIONS COMPETING INTERESTS The authors declare

no competing financial interests. RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Mecsas, J., Franklin, G., Kuziel, W. _et al._ CCR5 mutation and plague

protection. _Nature_ 427, 606 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1038/427606a Download citation * Issue Date: 12 February 2004 * DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/427606a SHARE THIS ARTICLE Anyone you

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