Anthrax epidemiology

Rickettsia can be stored as freeze-dried powders. In this form, they are easy to disperse. However, because they are living organisms and can be killed during the dispersal process there are limitations to the methods that can be used. They can also be stored and dispersed via infected vectors (e.g., lice, ticks). In most cases, large-scale attacks will be clandestine and only detected through epidemiological analysis of resulting disease patterns. Localized or small-scale attacks may take the form of "anthrax" letters. Even in these cases, without the inclusion of a threat the attack may go unnoticed until the disease appears in exposed individuals (e.g., the initial 2001 anthrax attack at American Media Inc., which claimed the life of Robert Stevens). 

Frerichs, R. (2002). American anthrax outbreak of 2001. UCLA Dept, of Epidemiology. Retrieved March 13, 2007 from http // www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/bioter/detect/antdetectJist.html... 

An often over-looked aspect of surveillance for bioterror events is surveillance of animal populations. Several of the agents considered to have bioterror potential are diseases of animals, for example, anthrax and brucellosis (Franz et al., 2001 Inglesby et al., 1999 USAM-RIID, 2005). A covert attack may first become apparent when animals become ill. The need to coordinate information from medical and veterinary sources was illustrated by the epidemiologic investigation during the 1999 West Nile Virus outbreak in New York City. Investigators found that there had been an outbreak in birds several weeks prior to the human outbreak (Fine Lay-ton, 2001). The current surveillance plan for monitoring West Nile Virus infection in the U.S. includes sentinel surveillance of several animal populations (CDC, 2003). 

Cieslak, T. J., Eitzen, E. M., Jr. (1999). Clinical and epidemiologic principles of anthrax. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 5, 552-555. 

Shafazand, S., Doyle, R., Ruoss, S., Weinacker, A., Raffin, T.A. (1999). Inhalational anthrax epidemiology, diagnosis, and management. Chest 116 1369-76. 

The ten cases of inhalational anthrax following the October 2001 terrorist event provide epidemiologic clues helping clinicians differentiate inhalational anthrax... 

Table 2.6 Epidemiology and clinical presentation of inhalational anthrax...

Anthrax. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Immunization Program. Epidemiology and Prevention of Vaccine-Preventable Illnesses. Anthrax, Chapter 20 307-322. The Pink Book. Updated Eighth Edition, 2005. http //www.cdc.gov/nip/publications/ pink/anthrax.pdf (last accessed 4/07/07)... 

Soon after these events, the deluge of patient calls to family physicians following the anthrax attacks in October 2001, mostly from the nnexposed yet anxions patients, illnstrated the critical role primary care physicians play in responding to patient anxieties regarding terrorism, real and imagined. This chapter discnsses the epidemiology of mental health conditions subsequent to terrorist events, followed by treatment and prevention recommendations for primary care physicians. 

Following the 2001 anthrax attacks, public health authorities advised over 10,000 persons to take postexposure prophylactic medications for up to 60 days (1,15). An additional 20,000 patients started prophylactic treatment until the epidemiologic... 

Jernigan, D.B., Raghunathan, P.S., and Bell, B.P., 2002. Investigation of bioterrorism-related anthrax. United States, 2001 epidemiologic findings, Emerg. Infect. Dis., 8, pp. 1019-1028. 

The epidemiologic situation regarding anthrax in the Republic does not inspire optimism. The increase of disease in humans started in the early 1990s 33 human infections were identified in 1992, 55 in 1993, and 59 in 1994. Later, there was an insignificant decrease in the rate of infection. 

To conduct an epidemiologic assessment of anthrax in Azerbaijan, it is necessary to pay attention to the so-called hearths of disease, which are numerous and persistent. Presently, 115 stationary, nonsatisfactory foci of infection, encompassing all physical and geographical regions of Azerbaijan, are registered. 

Considering the above-mentioned link and the availability of a large number of stationary, nonsatisfactory areas of anthrax within the territory of the Republic, weak veterinary control (especially in the private sector, which now is considered the core issue in the animal industries of Azerbaijan), and the uncontrolled sale of meat and dairy products at markets in cities and other regions of the Republic, it is likely that the unfavorable epizootic situation of brucellosis and anthrax and its interrelation with the epidemiologic situation within the territory of the Republic will continue in forthcoming years. 

Epidemiology of Anthrax and Landscape Ecology of Bacillus anthracis... 

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