Here is a good article on Anthrax. As Ralph Waldo Emerson said," Fear always springs from ignorance". Hopefully, this article will help.

Anthrax Tricky to Detect but Easy to Treat Friday October 19

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Seven people in the United States have tested positive for anthrax infections while dozens of cases of exposures have been reported, causing fear and anxiety about a disease that before the Sept. 11 attacks was extremely rare in the United States.

The language and terminology surrounding anthrax can be confusing, and experts have complained about misleading statements in the media and by some of those involved, including senators and members of Congress.

Anthrax is caused by a bacterium known as Bacillus anthracis. Bacilli are rod-shaped bacteria.

When they are not actively infecting a living body, they move into a dormant stage known as a spore. These hard-shelled spores have been known to survive for as long as 100 years.

Anthrax is normally a disease found in animals that graze and pick up the spores out of the soil.

The spores can be inhaled, activated by the warm, wet interior of the lungs. In humans, this form of the disease is the most deadly because it starts out looking like a cold or flu but rapidly progresses to pneumonia or meningitis and if untreated it kills 90 percent of its victims.

Spores can also work their way into a cut or scrape and cause an infection known as cutaneous anthrax. This is the most common form, and in humans it kills 20 percent of victims if they are not treated with antibiotics. Distinctive black scabs form, thus the name anthracis, which comes from the Greek word for coal.

A third type of infection known as gastrointestinal anthrax is found in infected meat or when the spores are otherwise swallowed.

In all three cases the spores need somewhere damp and warm to become active, and a dose of several thousand microscopic spores is needed to cause an infection. The spores cannot be seen by the naked eye.

When an infected animal dies and its body rots, the bacteria return to the soil and revert to spore form until they are picked up by another animal.

If spores are found on a person -- in the nose, for instance -- the person has been exposed.

A person is not infected unless the spores have been activated, which can be tested by culturing a lesion on the skin or by checking the blood for antibodies against anthrax, for the bacteria or for the toxins that anthrax produces.

ANTHRAX IS NOT CONTAGIOUS

Anthrax is not contagious and the spores can be washed away with soap and water. Experts suggest that anyone who may have been exposed take a bath, and at least thoroughly wash their hands and face.

It is possible that spores could be carried on clothing, but experts say this is unlikely unless someone has many spores dumped on them.

The bacteria infect immune cells known as phagocytes, releasing toxins as they grow and multiply until the cells burst. The immune response to this throws the system into shock and this is what kills the victim.

Antibiotics can prevent this from happening when given soon enough. Doctors are giving antibiotics to people who have been exposed to anthrax or who may have been exposed, even though they may not be infected.

A wide range of antibiotics can beat anthrax, from penicillin to tetracycline, or ciprofloxacin, which has received the most attention.

A vaccine against anthrax has been given to tens of thousands of U.S. troops but production is currently suspended due to manufacturing problems. It has not been shown to work against the inhaled form of the disease. Officials say the vaccine might be useful for people who are allergic to antibiotics but who have been exposed to anthrax.

Samples of anthrax can be found at veterinary labs around the world. Many countries developed anthrax for use in biological weapons, including the United States, Iraq and the former Soviet Union.

Investigators say the strains analyzed from the attacks in Florida, New York and Washington are naturally occurring and so far seem to be the same strain, which suggests they all came from a single source. But, unlike some other microbes, anthrax does not have a great deal of genetic variation and different batches may all look the same, scientists say.

Experts say Iraq and the Soviet Union made anthrax that resists antibiotics, both by genetically engineering them and by the more old-fashioned method of exposing the bacteria to antibiotics and breeding the bacteria that survived.

To be successfully used in an attack, anthrax bacteria must be grown and the clumpy mass of spores must be dried and ground finely enough to be dissolved in liquid, mixed in with a powder or sprayed in an aerosol. This requires specialized knowledge and equipment.

It is difficult to detect anthrax in the air, but the spores will settle onto surfaces, which can be brushed off. The dust can be examined under a microscope for bacilli, which can then be cultured and if colonies of anthrax grow, it is confirmed that anthrax is present.

Anthrax is endemic -- meaning it can always be found -- in the soil in Texas, Oklahoma and the lower Mississippi valley in the United States, and remains a problem in Africa and Asia -- notably Pakistan, Sudan and Turkey.

Until a 63-year-old man died in Florida earlier this month, the last fatal case of anthrax in the United States was in 1976 -- a home craftsman who died after working with wool imported from Pakistan.

-- Joe (CactusJoe001@AOL.com), October 20, 2001