Anthrax

For the American band, see Anthrax (US band).

Anthrax, or splenic fever, is a disease. Both humans and other animals can get it. It is caused by the bacterium bacillus anthracis. It is common with even-toed ungulates (some hoofed creatures, like camels and giraffes). The spores of the bacteria can live for hundreds of years. Humans usually catch the disease from animals. It is usually not passed from one human to another. Anthrax can be treated with antibiotics. There is also a vaccine against it. If not treated, anthrax often leads to death.

Anthrax
Classification and external resources
Photomicrograph of a Gram stain of the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, the cause of the anthrax disease
ICD-10	A22.minor
ICD-9	022
DiseasesDB	1203
MedlinePlus	001325
eMedicine	med/148
MeSH	D000881

Types of anthrax

There are 89 different strains (kinds) of anthrax. One of them, the Ames strain, was used against the United States in 2001 as a biological weapon.

Outbreaks

On April 2, 1979, there was a leak at one of the plants just outside of Sverdlovsk that made anthrax during the Cold War. 94 people were infected and 64 of those people died. The USSR blamed the deaths on another strain of anthrax that the people caught by digesting infected meat. However, later it was revealed that the outbreak was caused by an accidental release of the bacteria from a nearby plant which developed biological weapons for the USSR.

In September 2001, several letters containing anthrax were mailed to several USA media companies and senators. The attacks were linked to the September 11 attacks which occurred a few days before the start of the attack.

Hoaxes

There were many cases of fake powder being found in envelopes.

Anthrax Media

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  Skin reaction to anthrax

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  Skin anthrax lesion on the neck

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  Inhalational anthrax, mediastinal widening

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  Possible edema and necrosis in a case of injection anthrax.

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  Louis Pasteur inoculating sheep against anthrax

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  Colin Powell giving a presentation to the United Nations Security Council, holding a model vial of supposed weaponized anthrax

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  Bacillus Anthracis. See a full animation of this medical topic.

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  Color-enhanced scanning electron micrograph shows splenic tissue from a monkey with inhalational anthrax; featured are rod-shaped bacilli (yellow) and an erythrocyte (red)