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Vaccinating
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Vaccinating
Against Bioterrorism
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ANTHRAX: What is it?
After expulsion from a diseased animal in the form of feces, anthrax lives in the soil as a dormant, non-pathenogenic spore. It can exist in the soil this way for as long as fifty years. When it comes in contact with an animal, the spore changes into its pathogenic form and infects the host ("Anthrax: Information"). Cutaneous anthrax is characterized by painless lesions at the contact sites, which turn black three to four days after the lesions first appear. Infected individuals may experience fever and headache in addition to the lesions. Antibiotic treatment for this form of anthrax is 99% effective, even when administered a week or more after exposure to the spores. Gastrointestional anthrax is transmitted by ingestion of uncooked meat from an infected animal. It is extremely rare and accounts for less than 1% of the total cases ("Anthrax: General"). Death from gastrointestional anthrax occurs in almost every case. The most dangerous form of anthrax is inhalation anthrax. This is the form which was used most often in the recent bioterrorist attacks. It is an ideal form of biological warfare because it is easy to obtain and safe to handle ("New Anthrax"). Because it is not very communicable, there is little risk that infection will spread beyond the targeted group. |
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