Anthrax dissemination

Routes of Entry to the Body Inhalation, skin, and mouth. A biological warfare attack or a terrorist incident utilizing anthrax spores disseminated by aerosol would cause inhalation anthrax, a very rare form of this naturally occurring disease. Normal infection could occur through scratches or sores, wounds, eating insufficiently cooked infected meat, or by flies. All human populations are susceptible. The good news is that if you survive anthrax disease the first time, you would be immune to anthrax disease in the future. 

In the fall of 2001, letters containing a sophisticated and lethal form of powdered anthrax were sent to news media outlets and two democratic senators (the letters to the two senators were more highly refined and therefore more deadly). Of the eleven victims of inhalational anthrax, six survived. Eleven people also came down with cutaneous anthrax. Thousands of potentially exposed individuals were prescribed the antibiotic Cipro. The perpetrator is still unknown. This attack demonstrated that an individual could create highly refined anthrax spores, which, if disseminated properly, could infect hundreds, thousands or more. What is less clear is whether the perpetrator or any other terrorist could produce larger amounts (kgs) of anthrax and efficiently disseminate the spores over a wide area. According to the nuclear threat initiative, Producing... 

Drysdale, M., Heninger, S., Hutt, J., Chen, Y., Lyons, C.R., Koehler, T.M. (2005). Capsule synthesis by Bacillus anthracis is required for dissemination in murine inhalation anthrax. EMBO J. 24 221-7. 

Agents disseminated as weapons might present unique diagnosticandtreatmentchallengesffomthesamenaturally-transmitted conditions. (For example, the anthrax event in the USA in 2001 involved a child < 1 year of age, the first such reported infection in that age group)... 

These are anthrax, smallpox, plague, botulism, tularemia, viral hemorrhagic fevers and ricin. They can disseminate and present a high risk on public health. Most of them require Level 4 Biosafety laboratories. 

Kraneveld F.C., Djaenoedin, R. 1940. Test on the dissemination of anthrax by Tabanus rubidus in horses and buffalo. Overgedrukt uit de Nederlands-Indische Bladen Voor Diergeneeskunde 52 339-... 

In late June 1993, the cult attempted to spread anthrax in Tokyo using a sprayer system on the roof of an Aum-owned building in eastern Tokyo. The anthrax was disseminated for four days. 

Yekaterinburg) caused the death of a number of Soviet citizens from pulmonary anthrax.1 (This event is also discussed in Chapter 22, Anthrax.) Details about this epidemic were not disseminated by the Soviets, and it was not until much later that the Western communications media became aware of it. 

Category A agents These agents occupy the highest rank, as they can be easily disseminated and transmitted from one person to another. They cause the highest mortality and are a major public health concern. Examples include Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) and Yersinia pestis (plague). 

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