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.

Related Topics:
Infectious disease - Bacillus anthracis - Coal - Greek - Lesion

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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.

Related Topics:
Herbivore - Cattle - Sheep - Goat - Camel - Antelope - South - Central America - Europe - Asia - Africa - Middle East

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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.

Related Topics:
Strains - Ames strain - 2001 anthrax attacks - Biological weapon - 1960s - 1980s - Benign - Inoculation - Gene - Virulence - Antigen - Toxin

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