Bacilli, anthrax types

Agent Index A290 Class Index C24 Anthrax Bacillus anthracis Type Bacteria Inhalation Mild and nonspecific (i.e., flu-like) progressing to respiratory distress with fever and shock following in 3 to 5 days. Death occurs shortly thereafter. Routes Inhalation Ingestion Abraded Skin Vector (Biting Flies) Incubation hours to 7 days Mortality Rate Cutaneous < 20% Inhalation < 100% Reservoir Horses, Sheep... 

The anthrax bioterrorist attacks that followed the events of September 11th 2001 resulted in a renewed interest BadUus anthracis, the causative agent of this disease. Research has focused on the development of better vaccines than the one currently available. It has been estimated that the aerosolized release of 100 kg of anthrax spores upwind of Washington DC would cause mortalities of 130,000-3,000,000 [63]. Nonetheless, wild-type Bacillus anthracis is susceptible to conventional antibiotics, including penicillin, oxyfloxacin and ciprofloxacin. The problem lies not with the bacterial infection itself, but with three proteins released by the bacteria - protective antigen (PA, 83 kDa), lethal factor (LF, 90 kDa) and edema factor (EF, 89 kDa) -known as anthrax toxins [63]. 

Anthrax toxin is a bacterial toxin from Bacillus anthracis consisting of three parts protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF) and edema factor (EF). Both LF and EF compete for binding sites on the PA protein. The PA protein binds with high affinity to an as yet unknown receptor on macrophages and related cell types. When PA is internalized by the target cells, it functions as a shuttle protein for either EF or LF. Intracellularly, in the acidic environment of the endosome, EF and LF are capable of entering the cytosol by pH-dependent pore formation [139]. 

Bacteria and archaebacteria, the most abundant single-celled organisms, are commonly 1-2 )xm in size. Despite their small size and simple architecture, they are remarkable biochemical factories, converting simple chemicals into complex biological molecules. Bacteria are critical to the earth s ecology, but some cause major diseases bubonic plague (Black Death) from Yersinia pestis, strep throat from Streptomyces, tuberculosis from Mycobacterium tuberculosis, anthrax from Bacillus anthracis, cholera from Vibrio cholerae, food poisoning from certain types of E. coli and Salmonella. 

R-400 nerve agent aerial homhs found at Iraqi Al-lValid airhase. Iraq also filled this type of ordnance with Bacillus anthracis (anthrax) spores. This photograph was taken in fall 1991. (Courtesy of United Nations, Photograph by H. Arvidsson.)... 

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