Case studies anthrax

Draws lessons from case studies involving chlorine gas, anthrax, ricin, viral hemorrhagic fevers, and more... 

It is interesting to note that McVeigh, who was no doubt suffering from some type of severe disturbance, acted primarily alone. Actually, McVeigh is the exception that proves the rule—most terrorist acts on America are planned by a group beforehand. However, this is not always the case. For example, consider the case study that follows—an incident that occurred in 1992, before McVeigh, before the first attack on the World Trade Center, before 9/11, and prior to the anthrax attacks. 

A more recent study reports another tool that detects anthrax better than ELISA detection of PA (Biagini et al., 2004). The FCMIA can be multiplexed, meaning that numerous analytes can be measured simultaneously. In anthrax cases, anti-PA and anti-LF can be examined in serum samples at the same time. FCMIA is more sensitive, rapid, and reliable than ELISA. 

Public health experts base the 60-day recommendation on animal studies of anthrax deaths and spore clearance from the lungs following exposure. For example, one study found traces of spores in monkey lungs 100 days after exposure. Although the exact time of exposure is unknown, one anthrax case in the Sverdlovsk outbreak occurred 43 days after spore release (19). 

The 2001 anthrax letters sabotage was at any rate a cardinal turning point. Using those attacks as a case study, a group of U.S. researchers have developed a risk-... 

In silico models of anthrax release can be used to bridge the gap to help predict consequences of human exposure in the event of an outbreak or biological attack scenario. Several modeling studies have been published (Wein et al., 2003) in attempts to assess anthrax risk. The model of Wein et al. (2003) assumes a point-release of 1 kg of spores at a height of 100 m over a city of 10 million inhabitants. The effects on mortality of different antibiotic treatment strategies in an urbanized anthrax release are examined. This in silico biological weapon attack results in more than 100,000 deaths, given that both symptomatic and as)miptomatic persons receive antibiotics and the model incorporates availability and distribution parameters. In the base case, an approximation of... 

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