The absence of RIPK3 and MLKL phosphorylation during Yersinia infection of WT BMDMs together with the activation of caspase-8 before assembly of ASC specks and detectable caspase-1 activation suggests that distinct apoptotic and pyroptotic cell death complexes are activated sequentially during Yersinia infection. Here, CASP8 is linked to Yersinia infectious disease.