Anthrax

:Alternate meanings in Anthrax (disambiguation)

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Anthrax, called also splenic fever, is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis and is highly lethal in its most virulent form. Anthrax most commonly occurs in wild and domestic herbivores, but it can also occur in humans when they are exposed to infected animals, tissue from infected animals, or high concentrations of anthrax spores. Still there are no cases of people who got sick through contact with a diseased person. Anthrax means "coal" in Greek, and is used because victims develop black skin lesions.

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Anthrax infection is rare but not remarkably so in herbivores such as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and antelopes. Anthrax can be found globally. It is more common in developing countries or countries without veterinary public health programs. Certain regions of the world (South and Central America, Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East) report more anthrax in animals than others.

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Anthrax comes in 89 known strains. The best known is the virulent Ames strain, used in the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States. The Vollum (also incorrectly refered to as Vellum) strain, another one suitable for use as a biological weapon, was isolated in 1935 from a cow in Oxfordshire, UK, and used (specifically the Vollum 1B strain) during 1960s in the US and UK bioweapon programs; Iraq also attempted to acquire it during 1980s, together with Ames. Other strains are eg. Sterne (a benign form used for inoculations, named after a South African researcher), ANR-1, δAmes, A-3, RP4 and RP42. The strains differ in presence and activity of various genes, determining their virulence and production of antigens and toxins. See the list of strains.

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Infectious disease: In medicine, infectious disease or communicable disease is disease caused by a biological agent (e.g. virus, bacterium or parasite), as opposed to physical (e.g. burns) or chemical (e.g. intoxication) causes....

Bacillus anthracis: Bacillus anthracis is a bacterium of the genus Bacillus, which causes the disease known as anthrax. B. anthracis was the first bacterium ever shown to cause disease, by Robert Koch in 1877. The specific name anthracis comes from the Greek word anthrax (ἄνθραξ), meani...

Coal: Coal is a fossil fuel extracted from the ground by deep mining, coal mining (open-pit mining or strip mining). It is a readily combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock. It is composed primarily of carbon and hydrocarbons, along with assorted other elements, including sulfur. Often associ...

Anthrax related Images and Photos (experimental)

Anthrax

Anthrax - 80's Cartoon

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Scott Ian Anthrax Bobble Head