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Anthrax is a disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, a spore-forming, Gram positive, rod-shaped bacterium (Fig. 1).The lethality of the disease is caused by the bacterium's two principal virulence factors: (i) the polyglutamic acid capsule, which is anti-phagocytic, and (ii) the tripartite protein toxin, called anthrax toxin.
Damage caused by the anthrax spores and bacilli to the central chest cavity can cause chest pain and difficulty breathing. Once in the lymph nodes, the spores germinate into active bacilli that multiply and eventually burst the macrophages, releasing many more bacilli into the bloodstream to be transferred to the entire body.
Bacillus anthracis is a gram-positive and rod-shaped bacterium that causes anthrax, a deadly disease to livestock and, occasionally, to humans. It is the only permanent ( obligate ) pathogen within the genus Bacillus .
Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis is a variant of the Bacillus cereus bacterium that has acquired plasmids similar to those of Bacillus anthracis. As a result, it is capable of causing anthrax . [ 1 ] [ 2 ] In 2016, it was added to the CDC 's list of select agents and toxins .
In September 2001, letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to several news media offices and two U.S. Senators, killing five people and infecting 17 others. Of those infected, 11 developed cutaneous anthrax, while 11 developed inhalation anthrax. 20 of the 22 infected worked at a site where contaminated mail was handled or received. [7]
Anthrax is a bacterial disease that is caused by Bacillus anthracis bacteria. It can infect animals when they breathe in or ingest spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water.
Anthrax weaponization is the development and deployment of the bacterium Bacillus anthracis or, more commonly, its spore (referred to as anthrax), as a biological weapon. As a biological weapon, anthrax has been used in biowarfare and bioterrorism since 1914. [ 1 ]
In August 2016, the journal Science reported that anthrax scientist Paul Keim of Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff) and colleagues had attempted to sequence the B. anthracis genome from two samples taken from victims of the Sverdlovsk anthrax leak. The samples had been preserved by local Russian pathologists who investigated the outbreak ...