When you think of anthrax, you think of terrorists. However, terrorists are not the main cause of anthrax. Anthrax occurs in some animals like cattle, sheep, and goats. It is also soil borne. Anthrax is more common in places without veterinarian programs. Anthrax’s scientific name is bacillus anthracis. There are 89 strains of anthrax. One of the strains used in the 2001 anthrax attack on the nation is Ames strain. The Ames strain is extremely dangerous. It is the most dangerous type.
The Vollum strain used in the US and UK’s programs and in the bioweapon trials. A scientist named William A. Boyles was accidentally infected with the Vollum strain, which he died from in 1951. The Sterne strain, used as an anthrax vaccine, and is named after a South African researcher.
Anthrax has rod-shaped spores that are 1 by 9 micrometers in size. Anthrax was never known to cause disease until 1877, when Robert Koch discovered that it does. Anthrax spores usually rests in the soil resting for decades. Once an animal digests it, the bacterium grows and eventually kills the animal.
The anthrax toxin has two factors: edema and lethal factor. The edema factor inactivates white blood cells so they cannot produce bacteria. The lethal factor targets the blood vessel cells. Both factors are very deadly.
The most common way for people to be exposed to anthrax is infected animals or their products. Workers who are close to dead animals are at a high risk. In July 2006, an artist who made drums from cattle skins died of anthrax in the United Kingdom.
The Term Paper on Cruelty To Animals 2
Cruelty to animals, also called animal abuse or animal neglect, is the human infliction of suffering or harm upon non-human animals, for purposes other than self-defence or survival. More narrowly, it can be harm for specific gain, such as killing animals for food or for their fur, although opinions differ with respect to the method of slaughter. It usually encompasses inflicting harm for personal ...
Many people believe that anthrax can only enter the human body by inhalation. Anthrax can enter many ways such as intestines, lungs, or skin. Anthrax is not contagious, so it cannot spread from one person to the next. Many people mistake respiratory anthrax for a cold. They do this because some of its symptoms are cold or flu-like symptoms. After several days of infection, there is respiratory collapse.
With intestinal infection, the symptoms are vomiting of blood, diarrhea, and loss of appetite. Untreated, the infection is 99.9% fatal. Infection through the skin causes formation of a black scar, which is painless. Skin infection is rarely fatal, but without treatment, 20% of all cases turn out fatal.
The treatment of anthrax is large doses of antibiotics. The treatment usually does not work unless started in a day of exposure. For years, there have been attempts to develop new drugs against anthrax. The first vaccination was in 1881 on sheep. Louis Pasteur wanted to show his vaccine concept. Therefore, he injected anthrax in some sheep and then put the vaccine in them and the others only had the anthrax. All the anthrax infected sheep died and the ones with the vaccine lived.
To prevent anthrax through the mail, Postal Services have a machine called Biodetection System, which can find any traces of anthrax in the mail. All the workers have been educated on anthrax, response actions, and medication. The police, firefighters, paramedics, and USPS formulated the system.
There are ways to clean up the sites of anthrax. Oxidant agents help destroy the spores. Chlorine dioxide is another way to clean up a site. A spray formula sprayed over the effective area kills the anthrax spores. The destruction of spores takes 30 minutes to complete.
Works Cited
“Anthrax.” The World Book Encyclopedia. 1991.
“Anthrax.” Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary. 1989.
Wikipedia. “Anthrax.” Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. March 5, 2007.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrax.
