what is anthrax?

Question

i heard about it on a movie, what is it?
i also heard the goverment does whatever they can to hide it.

Answer 1

Anthrax is an infection caused by bacteria (a type of germ) called Bacillus anthracis (say: buh-sil-us an-thray-sus). These bacteria make spores, a form of the germ covered by a protective shell. The spores can live for years in the soil, and they cause anthrax when they enter the body. Although the disease is most common in farm animals - like sheep, cows, and goats - there's a small chance that people can get it as well, usually from some type of contact with an animal or part of an animal that had anthrax.

People may get anthrax if they are exposed to the spores. (Exposed means that a germ that can cause disease is found in the same place that you are - like in the same room - where it could come into direct contact with your body.) But here's the important part: Just being exposed to these spores doesn't mean that people will get sick.

To get sick, people would have to have contact with the spores in one of three very specific ways: They would have to breathe thousands of these spores all the way into their lungs. Or they would have to eat meat that had spores in it. (Meat that spreads anthrax comes from animals that were infected with the bacteria and usually is not cooked fully.) Or they would have to handle something with spores on it and get spores in cuts on their skin. This may sound scary, but even when people come into contact with the spores it's unlikely that they will get sick. If the bacteria do not get into the skin, digestive tract, or lungs, the disease will not develop.

Anthrax is not contagious, which means it does not spread from person to person the way the flu can spread between family members or classmates.




Anthrax is very rare. In the fall of 2001, a few people became infected with anthrax after someone used letters in the mail to spread the spores that cause the disease. Although this was scary, only a few people became sick and the police have been working hard to stop anything like that from happening again. A person's chance of getting anthrax from spores that someone spreads or from any type of contact with an infected animal is very, very low.

Answer 2

Anthrax is rare in humans although it occasionally occurs in ruminants, such as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and antelopes. Bacillus anthracis bacteria are soil-borne and are present globally. The disease is more common in developing countries without veterinary public health programs while developed regions of the world (North America, Western and Northern Europe, and Australia) report fewer cases of anthrax in animals. There are 89 known strains of anthrax, the most widely recognized being the virulent Ames strain used in the 2001 anthrax attacks in the United States.

The Vollum (also incorrectly referred to as Vellum) strain is also suitable for use as a biological weapon. The Vollum strain was isolated in 1935 from a cow in Oxfordshire, UK, and a variation of Vollum known as "Vollum 1B" was used during the 1960s in the US and UK bioweapon programs. Vollum 1B was isolated from William A. Boyles, a USAMRIID scientist who died from the Vollum strain in 1951. The Sterne strain, named after a South African researcher, is an attenuated strain used as a vaccine.

Answer 3

Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis and is highly lethal in some forms. Anthrax most commonly occurs in wild and domestic ruminants, but it can also occur in humans when they are exposed to infected animals, tissue from infected animals, or high density of anthrax spores. There are no known cases of infection in humans resulting from direct contact with a diseased person. The word anthrax is derived from the Greek word anthrakis, or "coal", in reference to the black skin lesions victims develop.

AFter 9/11, someone released anthax spores on Capitol Hill through the post mail. It is considered a toxic attack...

Answer 4

Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Most forms of the disease are lethal, and it affects both humans and animals. There are effective vaccines against anthrax, and some forms of the disease respond well to antibiotic treatment.Like many other members of the genus Bacillus, Bacillus anthracis can form dormantendospores (often referred to as "spores" for short, but not to be confused with fungal spores) that are able to survive in harsh conditions for decades or even centuries.[1] Such spores can be found on all continents, even Antarctica.[2] When spores are inhaled, ingested, or come into contact with a skin lesion on a host, they may become reactivated and multiply rapidly.Anthrax commonly infects wild and domesticated herbivorous mammals that ingest or inhale the spores while grazing. Ingestion is thought to be the most common route by which herbivores contract anthrax. Carnivores living in the same environment may become infected by consuming infected animals. Diseased animals can spread anthrax to humans, either by direct contact (e.g., inoculation of infected blood to broken skin) or by consumption of a diseased animal's flesh.Anthrax spores can be produced in vitro and used as a biological weapon. Anthrax does not spread directly from one infected animal or person to another; it is spread by spores. These spores can be transported by clothing or shoes. The body of an animal that had active anthrax at the time of death can also be a source of anthrax spores.Until the twentieth century, anthrax infections killed hundreds of thousands of animals and people worldwide each year.[3] French scientist Louis Pasteur developed the first effective vaccine for anthrax in 1881.[4][5][6] Thanks to over a century of animal vaccination programs, sterilization of raw animal waste materials, and anthrax eradication programs in North America, Australia, New Zealand, Russia, Europe, and parts of Africa and Asia, anthrax infection is now relatively rare in domestic animals (with only a few dozen cases reported each year).[citation needed] Anthrax is especially rare in dogs and cats, as is evidenced by a single reported case in the USA in 2001.[7]Anthrax typically does not cause disease in carnivores and scavengers, even when these animals consume anthrax-infected carcasses. Anthrax outbreaks do occur in some wild animal populations with some regularity.[8] The disease is more common in countries without widespread veterinary or human public health programs. In the 21st century, anthrax is still a problem in less developed countries. An outbreak of anthrax in humans who had eaten meat from a dead carabao was reported in Cagayan province in the Philippines in early 2010, with over 400 cases of illness and at least two fatalities.[9]Bacillus anthracis bacterial spores are soil-borne. Because of their long lifespan, spores are present globally and remain at the burial sites of animals killed by anthrax for many decades. Disturbed grave sites of infected animals have caused reinfection over 70 years after the animal's interment.[10]

Answer 5

To the person who answered first, you have broken the law. It is illegal to copy out and pass of as you own work, that which belongs to another person. Or website....Please cite where you get information from, and don't just copy it. This is where his "answer" came from.

http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/infection/anthrax.html