Anthrax: A Bioterrorist Weapon

Dr. Charbonnet believed that diseases appeared within humans similar to how certain forms come from inanimate objects like fleas from dust; this is called spontenous generation. Charbonnet argued that the microbes are the result of disease meaning that the microbes are not the reason for causing an illness but come after someone contracts a disease. Unlike Pasteur’s idea, he said that microorganisms are

Resistance among bacteria to current antibiotics may cause a new pre-antibiotic era, where common bacterial infections become as lethal as before the invention of the first antibiotic penicillin. With resistance on the rise, ‘simple’ surgery, cancer treatment and organ transplantation may become impossible.[4] Despite this very big and real threat[1], big pharmaceutical companies have abandoned or decreased their efforts to develop new antibiotics, while the demand for new and broad –and small– spectrum antibiotics is increasing.[2] [3] In this paper I will give an outline of the main factors why big pharmaceutical companies are no longer developing new antibiotics and I will attempt to pose possible solutions –call it Utopian solutions– that may turn the tide before it is too late.

Anthrax is a very dangerous bacteria. In these crimes, anthrax was mailed to people and when they opened the letter, anthrax would spill out from the envelope and contaminate the environment, making people very sick.

A well-known disease in the United States is Lyme disease. Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted by deer ticks that are infected with the Borrelia burgdorferi bacteria. In the early 1970s a group of children and adults in Lyme, Connecticut, and the surrounding areas were suffering from some puzzling and debilitating health issues. Finally, by the mid-70s, researchers began describing the signs and symptoms of this new disease. They called it Lyme, but they still didn’t know what caused it (History of Lyme Disease | Bay Area Lyme Foundation. n.d.). In the 1980’s, it was discovered that the bacteria came from deer ticks. Centers for Disease Controls and Prevention estimate that 300,000 people are diagnosed with Lyme disease in

The smallpox bioterrorism attack was made more successful when the FBI did not inform the local authorities and health agencies of the potential for an attack. This lack of information caused a delay in the medical community being able to respond quickly and effectively by isolating those exposed and assessing an immediate vaccination plan. People who were infected at the venue went about their lives and would later expose many others to smallpox. Since hospitals were not informed about a potential large-scale smallpox exposure they were not aware to be cautious for any symptoms associated with smallpox. This caused the first few smallpox patients to be misdiagnosed patients with things such as the flu and dengue fever instead. This time lapse

In 2001, the discovery of three letters containing anthrax spores caused widespread panic that swept across the US. Thousands of people flocked to clinics to be tested for possible infection and hundreds were affected by the shutdown of workplaces and public facilities. Though only a

Smallpox became an epidemic in more recent times, but its history seems to be much longer than that. For millions of years, smallpox was only found in animals. It was often mild to asymptomatic when carried by animals, but somehow along the way, it found a new host (Tucker 6). One of the oldest cases found was of the Pharaoh Ramses V, one of the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt. When 20th century scientists went to examine his body, they found it covered in pustules and lesions. It’s believed that he had Smallpox, and if he did, he

The mortality rates from anthrax vary, depending on exposure, and are approximately 20% for cutaneous anthrax without antibiotics and 25 - 75% for gastrointestinal anthrax; inhalation anthrax has a fatality rate that is 80% or higher and currently around 30% for injection anthrax. As evident in the table all age groups have to possibility of infection, there is a slightly higher infection rate for children under the age of one, possibly because their immune system is less developed and more

Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax can occur in three different forms; skin, inhalation and intestinal. It is spread by contact with the bacteria spores, which are from infectious animal products. Usually contact occurs through breathing, eating or cut and does not spread between people.

Also, the anthrax spores can take between 1 - 60 days to begin to germinate in the body.

While domestic and wild animals are the most likely living things to contract anthrax in America, it is very unlikely that anyone or anything will catch it because anthrax vaccinations are very highly recommended in areas where the disease has been found before. For a person to contract the disease from an infected animal, he or she would have to either eat undercooked meat from that animal or get blood or other bodily fluid into an open wound on his or her skin. Other ways to contract the disease are to breathe in the spores, eat or drink something that has been infected with spores, or get spores in a cut or scrape (Anthrax, 2014).

Clostridium botulinum produces botulinum toxin which is the strongest human known toxin. This makes it have great potential for use as a bioweapon. The concern for this has risen due to Iraq’s production, under Saddam Hussein’s rule, of 19,000 liters of botulinum toxin in 1995. This amount is enough to kill the entire population of humans on earth, three times over. The use of this neurotoxin could be in the form of aerosol or food contamination. For this reason, it is highly studied. It is also the reason I picked Clostridium botulinum as the bacterium to do my research paper on.

Being exposed to anthrax doesn't always mean you will be infected and if you can catch any kind early you'll have a better chance to survive. Doctors have many options for treatment. They can use antibiotics and antitoxins but people with the worse cases of anthrax have to be treated in the hospital. The aggressive hospital treatment may include draining fluid off the lungs and mechanical breathing machines. Every type of anthrax can be treated with antibiotics. Doctors also must include antitoxins with the common antibiotic treatments but there are not a lot of antitoxins available to use. Spores can be inactive in the body for up to 60 days which is why people exposed to the anthrax must be treated for 60 days after contamination. This helps so that when the anthrax spores become active they are protected against it. There is also a vaccine to prevent anthrax but it is very risky because there can be severe allergic reactions possible and it is not available to the general public. People who can get the vaccine are lab workers, vets, and US military personnel. It protects 90 percent of people that get the vaccine. The vaccine for animals reduces the risk for humans getting anthrax. (“Anthrax” Centers for disease control and

The name anthracis is derived from the greek word for coal, anthrakis. This is because B. anthracis induced lesions will appear black (1). This bacterium is very large (1–1.5×3–10 μm in dimension) and is a Gram positive, spore-bearing rod. The cells also have

Anthrax (Bacillus anthracis) is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium. The most common victims of anthrax are warm-blooded animals, but it can also infect humans. Anthrax spores can be produced in a powdery form for biological warfare. When inhaled by humans, these particles cause respiratory failure and death within a week. Because anthrax is considered to be a potential agent for use in biological warfare, the Department of Defense (DOD), in 1998, announced it would begin a systematic vaccination of all U.S. military personnel. (DOD, 1998) Anthrax infection occurs in three forms: cutaneous (skin), inhalation, and gastrointestinal. B. anthracis spores can survive in the soil for many years and handling animal