Question on anthrax

[redirish28]

My wife and I are watching a bio on Washington. They mentioned how during his Presidency Washington became very ill and many thought he had gotten Anthrax from being on a farm (or something like that) My wife posed the question if Anthrax was present 200 years ago and she recently read a book talking about life in the 1800s and how this area she was reading about had a breakout of anthrax and people survived how is it that it is so dangerous now?

Is it due to the fact that we no longer have the immune system to fight it or is it a stronger strain?


It is a question I pose in hopes to find her an answer.

[TheWraith]

1. Well, it's complicated.

No, we don't have weaker immune systems these days. Probably stronger actually, since we have better sanitation and are sick less frequently. But the kind of anthrax that's talked about in the context of bio-warfare is "weaponized," meaning that it's selected for greater virulence, plus it's specially processed to make infection easier.

Now that said, even with weaponized anthrax, untreated it is still survivable.

[redirish28]

2. thanks.

[TZ]

3. Not necessarily

Remember there are several strains/types of anthrax infections. The ones that are contact..skin have a fairly low mortality rate.
The inhaled anthrax is much more deadly. And untreated weaponized anthrax is HIGHLY fatal...The anthrax found in the soil does not often get into the lungs..where it is very dangerous.
Weaponized anthrax is DESIGNED to be much more toxic (its toxin that the bacteria creates that is the problem, not the bacteria themselves).
Its the toxin, not our immunity systems thats different.

[existentialist]

4. semi accurate replies

So far it appears no one that really has expert knowledge on the subject has addressed your question.

I also know just enough to be dangerous, but with that caveat I'll try to answer.


First, yes, it is true that anthrax has been around for thousands of years, and it appears that anthrax spores may remain in the soil, inactive but viable for at least decades and probably centuries.

Second, naturally occurring anthrax is a greater danger for cattle, deer, buffalo, and other herbivores than it is to humans. I live in an area where, particularly after a wet spring but with a dry summer warnings go out to ranchers around these parts to take precautions regarding their livestock rather than themselves. It can be devastating to a cattle herd while posing only a slight risk to the ranchers themselves.

Third, part of the distinction with regard to anthrax infections concerns the part of the body attacked rather than the strain of anthrax involved. This being so attacks in the lungs are most dangerous, and are almost always fatal if they get well established before treatment begins. Second, most dangerous is anthrax that is ingested into the digestive tract. Third, relatively the least dangerous is anthrax that infects the skin. I think that some sort of cut or scratch is necessary for the anthrax to infect the skin. Even skin infections are not to be taken lightly. Professional medical help should be sought ASAP.

Fourth, there are both antibiotics and vaccines that work very well against anthrax. The last I knew the vaccines generally required military clearance, but the antibiotics are generally available.

Fifth, while it is probably true that the scientists who "weaponized" anthrax sought out the most virulent strains, and definitely true that much of the anthrax danger comes from the toxins the anthrax produces, I think the comments as stated above are misleading although based on some facts. The greatest difference between "weaponized" anthrax and anthrax spores as found in nature is the purity and dryness. Anthrax spores in nature are found together with all sorts of organic materials. Mostly dead smelling and unpleasant organic materials that a sensible person would try to avoid, and which are, in fact toxic in their own right, but not infectious. The anthrax spores themselves are odorless, and when "weaponized" are concentrated more than 1000 times more than anything found in nature.

I hope I got that right--I remember doing a bit a reading about it when the anthrax was sent to Daschel's and Leahy's offices among other places. But, again, I'm not really an expert either.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. It wasn't weaponized

Here you go

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrax

though it was plenty lethal.

[Warpy]

6. First, what Washington was exposed to is naturally occurring anthrax

The spores are in the soil and people who work with sheep are especially vulnerable to infection. The name comes from the black sore people get when infected, and the infection is usually a skin infection. The spores themselves are heavy and covered with a thick, waxy coating to protect them while they're dormant in the soil. They can be inhaled in very dusty conditions, but mostly they fall out of the air faster than the dust does.

Pulmonary anthrax is much more serious, but both infections are easily treated now with common antibiotics if they're diagnosed quickly. Most pulmonary anthrax cases are among sheep and cattle.

Weaponized anthrax, the stuff mailed out from Ft. Detrick in 2001, is a very different animal. Using a super secret process in an ultra high level containment facility, the spores have the thick, waxy coating removed, leaving a very light powder of the bacterial spore, itself, a powder that is so fine that it volatizes through the air even more quickly than fine talcum powder does. That's what makes it so dangerous. Once in the air, it's easily inhaled and causes massive infection. Because it is so fine and volatizes into the air so quickly, those envelopes could only have been filled within the containment lab, else there would have been massive environmental contamination and a lot more collateral deaths.

Anthrax is a very old disease that was well known even by Hippcorates. The weaponized form is designed to infect as many people as possible over as wide an area as possible, overwhelming the health care system and causing deaths among people who simply don't get treated in time.

[redirish28]

7. Thank you all for your answers. I'll show my wife this thread