Anthrax - 1

Anthrax
Anthrax is a life-threatening infectious disease that originated in Egypt and normally affects animals; such as goats, cattle, sheep, and horses. Anthrax can be transmitted to humans by contact with an infected animal or their products. Over the years anthrax has received a great deal of attention as biologists have discovered that it can also be spread by a bioterrorist attack or as chemical warfare. Anthrax is not one of the diseases that spread from person to person. As of today, there are three known types of ways anthrax can infect a human.
The most common way is infection through the skin. This causes an ugly sore that usually goes away without treatment. This is also known as cutaneous. Cutaneous form of anthrax starts as a red-brown raised spot that enlarges with a tint of redness around it, then results in blistering and hardening. The center of the spot then shows an ulcer crater with blood-tinged drainage and the formation of a black crust called an Escher. Also there will be swollen lymph nodes in this area. Some symptoms include muscle aches and pain, headache, fever, nausea and vomiting. The illness usually goes away in about six weeks, but death may occur if you are not prescribed appropriate antibiotics.
Another way is through inhalation of anthrax. Inhalation anthrax is a very serious disease, and unfortunately, most affected individuals will die even if they get appropriate antibiotics. This is because antibiotics are effective in killing the bacteria, but they do not destroy the deadly toxins that have already been released and traveled through the body. This affects the body by entering into the lungs, and then the spores get picked up in the lungs by scavenger cells called macrophages. Most of the spores are killed, but unfortunately some survive and are taken to the glands in the chest called lymph nodes. In the lymph nodes, the spores that survive multiply, produce deadly toxins, and spread throughout the body.
The last and most rare way is anthrax of the bowels; (gastrointestinal anthrax). This is the result of eating undercooked and/or contaminated meat. After you consume the contaminated meat, the bacteria will invade through the bowel wall. Then the infection spreads throughout the body by traveling through the bloodstream with deadly toxicity. The symptoms of this form of anthrax include nausea, loss of appetite, bloody diarrhea and an unusually high fever, followed by abdominal pain.
Not all forms of anthrax can be treated. However, in most cases, early treatment can cure anthrax. The cutaneous (skin) form of anthrax can be treated with common antibiotics such Penicillin, Tetracycline, Erythromycin, and Ciprofloxacin. If anthrax enters your blood stream medical emergency is a must. Early and continuous intravenous therapy with antibiotics may be lifesaving. However, in a chemical warfare attack, individuals exposed to anthrax will be given antibiotics before they become sick. A vaccine exists but is not yet available to the general public. It is told that most experts think that the vaccine will also be given to exposed individuals who are victims of a bioterrorist attack. Anthrax is a reportable disease.

So how exactly did anthrax get labeled as a chemical weapon? Well, it all started during World War I, when German agents were sent to five countries (Romania, Spain, Norway, the United States and Argentina) with instructions to infect animal shipments sent to the Allies. They targeted animals included sheep, cattle, horses, mules, and, in Norway, reindeer. Animals were infected either by having the anthrax injected directly into their blood, or by being fed sugar containing traces of anthrax. Then the attention shifted to human anthrax and its potential as a chemical weapon. Although several nations including the United States prohibited biological weapons, they still experimented with anthrax during the 1930s and 1940s. In the late 1930s, the Japanese Army performed covert experiments on anthrax and began sending out biological weapons in Germany. Hitler had forbidden biological weapons research; however, the Nazis did conduct anthrax and biological weapons research at a small secret facility in Poland. After that they discovered that during World War II, American, British, and Canadian laboratories began developing biological weapons, especially with the use of anthrax. By 1944, the Allies had developed thousands of anthrax bombs, and were threatening many countries with these bombs. By this time almost most of the countries were experimenting with this deadly chemical, and were figuring out all ways to spread it. This resulted In the September 2001 attack on the U.S. Anthrax spores were sent through the U.S. postal system; four letters containing a white powder, which contained anthrax.
Caused by a colorless, odorless and tasteless bacterium in the form of a powder, anthrax is one of the most dangerous, deadliest, and frightening diseases out there.

Citations * Pike, J .2010. Anthrax. Global Security. Retrieved July 24, 2010, from http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/intro/bio_anthrax.htm

* Burke, A. 2011. Background: Anthrax. Medscape. Retrieved September 27, 2011, from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/212127-overview

* Fishbein, M. (N.D.). Anthrax. Medicine Net. Retrieved September 14, 2010, from http://www.medicinenet.com/anthrax/article.htm

* Patients Medical. 2012. Intravenous Therapy. Patients Medical. Retrieved March 2, 2012, from http://www.patientsmedical.com/treatments/ivtherapy/ivtherapy.aspx

Chemical Weapons: Anthrax

Citations: * Pike, J .2010. Anthrax. Global Security. Retrieved July 24, 2010, from http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/intro/bio_anthrax.htm * Burke, A. 2011. Background: Anthrax. Medscape. Retrieved September 27, 2011, from http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/212127-overview * Fishbein, M. (N.D.). Anthrax. Medicine Net. Retrieved September 14, 2010, from http://www.medicinenet.com/anthrax/article.htm * Patients Medical. 2012. Intravenous Therapy. Patients Medical. Retrieved March 2, 2012, from http://www.patientsmedical.com/treatments/ivtherapy/ivtherapy.aspx Chemical Weapons: Anthrax