Why is Ebola so Scary? #shorts

Many people may recognize Anthrax as part of the “Big Four”, alongside Metallica, Megadeth, and Slayer. Anthrax was first discovered in New York City in 1981, the creation of guitarist Scott Ian and bassist Dan Lilker. But before the thrash metal band was tearing up the music scene, there was a much less popular anthrax that was already a household name. The disease anthrax is caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis, and it is one of the most lethal diseases known to mankind.

Anthrax comes in multiple forms, with the most deadly form of infection having a 90% mortality rate without treatment. Even with modern treatment, there’s still only about a 50% chance of survival.

However, despite how deadly the disease is, there has never been an anthrax pandemic or widespread outbreak of the disease. Outbreaks are generally localized to a small area, and modern outbreaks (with one exception) have very low fatality counts, often times with no humans dying at all.

And yet, for many, anthrax is seen as the most terrifying disease in the world because of the potential it has. Its potential as the deadliest and most effective biological weapon ever utilized.

A History of Anthrax

Anthrax has been plaguing humans for thousands of years, possibly literally. It has been suggested that the fifth Egyptian plague, as described in the Bible, may have been an outbreak of anthrax. That specific instance is heavily disputed, but there is a lot of evidence that the disease has been around that long.

Of course, the disease wasn’t called anthrax back then. It went by a variety of different names over the centuries, with the names typically describing either its location, such as Siberian plague, or the occupation of those infected, such as woolsorter’s disease. The cause of the disease went unknown until 1875 when Bacillus anthracis was identified by German physician Robert Koch.

This was a major discovery not just for our understanding and prevention of anthrax, but for modern medicine as a whole. Germ theory had been gaining more traction in the scientific community, but Koch’s discovery was the first time a disease was shown to be directly caused by a bacteria. Bacillus anthracis is relatively large by bacteria standards, large enough that it was visible using the microscopes available at the time.

A few years later, British physician John Henry Bell identified that anthrax was the same ailment as woolsorter’s disease, a deadly disease that had been afflicting woolsorters in England.

With the cause of anthrax finally revealed (and all of the localized names for the condition consolidated into a singular term), it was time for doctors and scientists to combat the problem. This turned out to be a lot easier to handle than one might have expected, because of the way that anthrax spreads.

Bacillus anthracis is non-motile, meaning that it can’t move. Many bacteria have mechanisms like flagella that allow them to quickly move around, but Bacillus anthracis doesn’t have these. Instead the bacteria just get stacked up in chains resembling boxcars, because of their blunt, rectangular shape. Anthrax also isn’t a communicable disease. There has never been a single confirmed case of anthrax being transmitted from one human to another.

The way that the disease typically spreads to humans is via livestock animals. That meant that if scientists could prevent the animals from getting sick, it would prevent humans from getting sick as well. In 1881, Louis Pasteur created an anthrax vaccine for use in livestock, which he demonstrated publically. He injected one group of animals (primarily sheep) with two doses of the vaccine given 15 days apart, and had another control group that was not vaccinated. Another fifteen days after the second vaccine dose was given, all of the animals involved were injected with Bacillus anthracis.

All of the vaccinated animals survived, while all of the unvaccinated animals died. Some of the unvaccinated animals had clung to life just long enough to survive until the public exhibition, at which point they collapsed in death in front of an audience. That part wasn’t planned, but it undoubtedly helped drive home the efficacy of Pasteur’s vaccine.

The vaccine spread across Europe and Asia, and other vaccines were developed that eventually supplanted Pasteur’s original version. In 1954, the first anthrax vaccine for humans was developed, with an improved version being created in 1970. Most people don’t get the anthrax vaccine though, because it isn’t necessary.

Vaccinating the animal population proved to be extremely effective, so the average person had no need for the vaccine. Only doctors and researchers that work with anthrax, veterinarians, and textile mill workers were routinely vaccinated, though the vaccine can also be given as an early form of treatment when someone is infected. Today there are still over 2,000 cases of anthrax per year, but these cases are heavily concentrated in developing nations. The United States averages about two cases per year, with many European countries averaging less than one case per year.

Also, the vast majority of modern cases of anthrax are of the least deadly form of the disease. Cases are so rare and treatable these days that there’s little reason for anybody to be afraid of anthrax anymore. Of course, that’s only talking about the natural occurrence of anthrax. How much you need to fear anthrax depends on how evil you think humans can be, as the current statistics really undersell the lethal potential of the disease.

Method of Transmission

Anthrax is not contagious, so you may be wondering how people get infected in the first place. The answer to that is spores. When an animal infected with anthrax dies, most of the bacteria dies off quickly as well. Anaerobic bacteria outcompete Bacillus anthracis within the deceased body, causing them to die within hours or even minutes of the host’s death.

That’s just the bacteria inside the host, though. Any bacteria that escape, either from bodily fluids oozing out or the body being opened up in some way, turn into spores. The exact mechanism that triggers sporulation is unknown, but once the bacteria become spores, they are nigh indestructible. These spores can survive dry climates, both hot and cold temperatures, and acidic soil. Viable Bacillus anthracis spores were found on century old animal carcasses in the Siberian permafrost, so this stuff is quite resilient. Unfortunately, the spores from the Siberian reindeer carcasses resulted in the death of a 12 year old boy from an anthrax infection.

The resiliency of these spores is also a big part of why localized anthrax outbreaks would often occur. If a livestock animal died of anthrax (or any mysterious disease), farmers typically had the sense not to eat that animal or sell its meat. However, they would just bury the animals in fields where other livestock grazed, infecting the soil with spores. Other animals would eat the spores, and they in turn would become infected. This process then had a tendency to repeat.

These animals could be slaughtered for meat before it was evident they were sick, which would be dangerous for anyone who ate the meat. Undercooked meat from an anthrax infected animal could of course cause a person to get sick, but cooked meat could as well. When the animal was slaughtered and cut up, the bacteria inside it would undergo sporulation. But because these spores are so resilient, normal cooking temperatures will not kill them.

Even if you’re some sort of monster who prefers their steaks well done, that’s not going to be enough to kill the spores.

But the infected animals don’t have to be consumed to transmit anthrax to humans. Animals’ skin and wool can become covered in spores from infected soil, which is why woolsorters and tanners were so susceptible to anthrax.

Unfortunately, even trying to handle infected livestock responsibly can result in human infection. Let’s say someone had a cow that died of a mysterious disease, so they buried it in an isolated area where their other cattle didn’t graze. Sometime later another cow dies, so they go to bury it in the same isolated graveyard for diseased animals. Because the soil would now be infected with spores, disturbing it by digging could cause spores to be launched into the air where they could then be inhaled.

The resiliency and longevity of the spores is certainly an issue, but the vaccination of livestock has resulted in fewer animals getting infected and thus fewer spores being produced. And because there is no person to person transmission of anthrax, the ways in which it’s transmitted does highlight how this has always been more of an occupational hazard than a concern of the general public (except in outbreaks caused by the sale of tainted meat).

Types of Infection and Lethal Toxins

As we said earlier, there are three types of anthrax infection. Technically there are four, but the fourth only seems to have come up as the result of a singular outbreak.

The first type of infection is cutaneous anthrax. This is by far the most common form, accounting for over 90% of anthrax cases. It is also the least deadly form, as it only has about a 20% mortality rate when left untreated, and less than a 1% mortality rate when an infected person is given antibiotics.

Cutaneous anthrax is when Bacillus anthracis infects a person via an open cut or sore on their skin. This is also the version of the disease from which the name anthrax is derived. The most common and identifiable symptom of cutaneous anthrax is a lesion of necrotic tissue called an eschar. These lesions resemble coal, and so the disease was given the name “anthrax” which is the Greek word for coal.

The lesions themselves are typically painless, though nearby lymph nodes may become swollen and sore. Symptoms of cutaneous anthrax appear a few days after exposure, but the lesion scabs over and falls off after a couple weeks (though infection in the lymph nodes may persist longer).

Most cases of cutaneous anthrax were the result of people working with animals or animal byproducts, such as wool or hides. It’s also possible to get cutaneous anthrax from touching infected soil with an open cut.

The next type of infection is gastrointestinal anthrax. This is pretty straightforward, as it requires consuming infected meat. Of the three main types of infection, this is the only one that risks affecting all portions of the population equally, rather than being specific to certain jobs. Fortunately, this is still not the most dangerous form of the disease.

Gastrointestinal anthrax has a mortality rate of somewhere between 25-60% without treatment (which is admittedly not a useful range), but only 10-20% with treatment. That’s obviously worse than cutaneous anthrax, but it still has pretty good odds of survival.

The main symptoms of gastrointestinal anthrax are diarrhea, abdominal pains, loss of appetite, and inflammation of the intestines. With treatment, recovery usually takes 1-2 weeks. Fortunately (in a manner of speaking), the diarrhea often includes blood, and an infected person may vomit blood as well. Those aren’t pleasant symptoms, but they reduce the risk of gastrointestinal anthrax being mistaken for a run of the mill stomach bug.

It’s also possible for the disease to cause lesions in the gastrointestinal tract, which can make diagnosing the condition easier.

The next type of infection, which only appeared in a single outbreak in December of 2009, is injection anthrax. The outbreak affected heroin users in Scotland, specifically in Glasgow and Stirling. It’s believed that the source of the Bacillus anthracis in this outbreak was ground up bones from contaminated animals that had been used to dilute the heroin. The outbreaks resulted in 14 deaths, and symptoms were similar to cutaneous anthrax, except without the telltale lesion and far more severe in nature. This outbreak was an isolated incident though, so there isn’t much data available about injection anthrax. While an event like this happening again is extremely unlikely, that’s just one more reason not to do heroin.

That all brings us back to the final and deadliest form of anthrax, which is pulmonary anthrax. This happens when the spores are inhaled, and it has a higher than 90% mortality rate when left untreated. With treatment, survival is still a coin toss. However, getting prompt treatment can be difficult, as the early symptoms of pulmonary anthrax are similar to other ailments like the flu or pneumonia.

The incubation period for pulmonary anthrax is longer than the other types. It’s usually about a week, though the spores may lay dormant for a month or longer before activating. Early symptoms include cough, chest pain, shortness of breath, nausea, and vomiting, which are unfortunately somewhat generic symptoms. It also causes headache and sweats, which still aren’t uniquely identifying symptoms.

The most identifying symptom is an altered mental state. People infected with pulmonary anthrax may feel anxiety, fatigue, and confusion. As the disease progresses, the mild confusion turns into disorientation, and eventually delirium. The chest pains and shortness of breath are often enough to prompt medical visits, especially depending on their severity, but for any who think they can wait out the disease, the altered mental state usually necessitates them seeking medical intervention.

Those are the different ways that a person can contract anthrax, but that still doesn’t actually answer our main question. What exactly is it that makes anthrax so lethal?

A Triumvirate of Evil

We’re going to focus on pulmonary anthrax here, but the bacteria works the same way no matter how it gets into the body. The difference in outcomes is just related to where in the body the bacteria infects.

Although Bacillus anthracis is relatively large for a bacteria, most particles are still small enough to pass the upper respiratory defenses and make their way into the alveoli. But at this point, the bacteria is still in its vegetative state. More importantly, it’s also encased in a capsule made of protein. This outer shell is incredibly important not only because it prevents macrophages (most notably white blood cells) from ingesting the bacteria, but because it disguises the fact that it’s even a threat.

Bacillus anthracis contains multiple toxins, but the white blood cells can’t detect them because of the protein capsule. When the spores get inhaled into the lungs, the white blood cells identify that they don’t belong there, but they don’t actually kill the bacteria. Instead they just pick them up and carry them to the nearest lymph node, as that’s how the body handles anything that is somewhere it shouldn’t be, whether that’s a toxin or just random debris like dead cells.

Once environmental changes (such as temperature, CO2 levels, and moisture levels) are deemed suitable, which happens in the lymph nodes, the bacteria leaves its vegetative state and activates, multiplying rapidly. Then it’s time for the bacteria to go on the offensive. Still protected by its protein capsule, Bacillus anthracis attacks cells using its tripartite toxin.

The tripartite toxin, also known as anthrax toxin, contains three parts: the edema factor, the lethal factor, and the protective antigen. On their own, each of these elements would be harmless. But combined, they are extremely deadly.

The bacteria first attack cells using the protective antigen. The protective antigen latches onto another cell, then it creates a pore in the cell’s membrane for the toxins to pass through. At this point you may be wondering about the name, as that functionality sounds aggressive rather than protective.

The protective antigen got its name because it is the portion of the anthrax toxin used to create vaccines. Because each part of the toxin is harmless to humans by itself, and because the antigen is the portion responsible for latching onto our cells, vaccines were created using only the antigen rather than whole bacteria or anthrax toxin.

Anyway, once the pore has been created, the protective antigen can combine with either the edema factor or the lethal factor to create edema toxin and lethal toxin. And each of those toxins does pretty much exactly what you would expect.

The edema toxin disrupts the function of cyclic AMP which, among other things, is responsible for maintaining water levels across membranes. This results in the cells holding on to water that they aren’t supposed to, causing edema and inflammation. How dangerous this is to the host depends on where it’s taking place, which is why pulmonary anthrax is so much more deadly than the other forms. If the edema toxin causes inflammation in the lungs or heart, it can cause a massive drop in blood pressure resulting in shock and potentially death.

As for the lethal toxin, that disrupts the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinases, or MAPKK. That’s the system responsible for a cell’s….well, pretty much everything. Basically, the lethal factor comes into the cell, and cuts all the wires that make it function. This triggers the process known as apoptosis, or cell death, which is when cells in your body kill themselves.

That’s a normal process that happens in your body all the time for various reasons, such as a cell identifying that it’s DNA has been irreparably damaged, but the lethal toxin forces your cells to undergo this process. And most importantly, it starts with the macrophages that are supposed to be eliminating toxins from the body. This weakens the immune system’s ability to respond to the threat, giving Bacillus anthracis more time to replicate and cause even more damage.

Since anthrax’s first order of business is to kill off your immune system, it’s no wonder that it would have such a high rate of mortality. By the time symptoms become apparent a lot of damage has already been done, which is why treatment still only has about a 50% chance of saving a person.

Although pulmonary anthrax is not quite the most lethal bacterial infection for humans, it’s pretty close. That might lead you to believe that it’s a good thing anthrax isn’t communicable, as it has prevented any widespread anthrax pandemics from ever occurring. Unfortunately, it’s the total opposite. The fact that anthrax can’t be transmitted from one person to another has historically made it the perfect candidate for biological warfare.

Weaponized Anthrax

We’ve addressed how resilient the Bacillus anthracis spores are while discussing its transmission. Not only does this mean that the spores can remain a lingering threat in the environment for upwards of a century, but it means that the spores are hearty enough to survive being used in bombs. Obviously the spores aren’t indestructible so these weapons have to be purpose built, but we know anthrax has been successfully tested in cluster bombs, and it is believed North Korea has tested ICBMs with anthrax filled warheads.

For a less sophisticated approach, anthrax spores can also be dumped out of planes or dispersed from rooftops. All of these methods would result in aerosolized anthrax, which poses the largest danger to humans. Because the spores are so tiny, they can remain airborne for extended periods of time rather than quickly settling to the ground. How long they remain airborne and how far they spread depends heavily on what the wind happens to be doing at the time, but they will stay in the air long enough to be inhaled and cause pulmonary anthrax.

Because pulmonary anthrax has only a 50% survival rate even if the victim receives treatment quickly, this makes it a very dangerous biological weapon. Even once the spores finally settle on the ground, there is still the risk that they could be disturbed and become airborne again. They could also be ingested by livestock which then risk infecting humans.

Not only could such an attack cause mass casualties, but it’s a relatively targeted attack. Because anthrax isn’t contagious, the theory behind weaponizing it was that it could weaken the forces in an area, then they could be attacked without the fear of the disease being spread back to the people who originally deployed it the way a contagious disease would.

That was the original idea, anyway, and anthrax was being developed in the 1900s as a non-persistent biological weapon. What was discovered during testing, however, was that it is in fact extremely persistent. British weapons tests on the Scottish island of Gruinard showed that not only would aerosolized anthrax be extremely lethal, as all livestock on the island died, but that it could render a city uninhabitable for decades.

The test was conducted in 1942, and the island was not habitable again until 1987 after it was finally decontaminated. The decontamination effort was estimated to cost £500,000, or about $2.5 million in today’s money, and it only finally happened after activists (or terrorists, depending on your point of view) delivered a box of soil from the island that was contaminated with anthrax to Porton Down, the military research facility responsible for the original testing.

Even though we now know that anthrax is incredibly persistent and leaves an area contaminated and unusable for decades, its non-contagious nature has resulted in it continuing to be seen as an optimal candidate for biological warfare. Also, if a force was just trying to cause maximum damage to an area and didn’t actually care about putting boots on the ground, anthrax remains a way to devastate a population and render an entire city uninhabitable without fear that the disease would spread far beyond the target location.

Of course, people don’t even need to be the target. The first instance of anthrax being used as a weapon came during the First World War when the German army infected Allied livestock with anthrax, disrupting their food supply. And this sort of attack naturally runs the risk of the spores being spread to people as well.

Fortunately, we shouldn’t have to worry about any nation’s military trying to weaponize anthrax. That was the theory behind the Biological Weapons Convention of 1972. This international treaty banned the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, and transfer of biological weapons, effectively banning the weapons entirely.

Nearly every nation in the world has signed the BWC and ratified the treaty domestically, with the most notable exception being Israel. Egypt signed the treaty in 1972 signaling that they were in favour of the agreement, but they have refused to ratify it until Israel joins the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

That said, while nearly all the world’s nations agreed that biological weapons are bad and they definitely weren’t going to make any, the treaty didn’t contain any mechanism to actually make sure anybody was keeping their word. Even if there were inspections, though, it’s very difficult to send inspectors to check for these sorts of weapons.

To start, a lot of the same equipment that would be necessary for weaponizing anthrax and other biological agents has non-malicious, peacetime uses. This stuff is used for research and the development of vaccines. There’s also the biological agents themselves, which are very different from chemical or nuclear weapons.

For example, if you wanted to build a bunch of nuclear bombs, you would need to acquire a stockpile of uranium. Beyond that, there is a major difference between weapons grade uranium and uranium used for research and power plants. For peacetime activities, uranium only needs to be enriched to about 5% on average, or maybe up to 20% for certain types of research. Weapons grade uranium is enriched to 90% or higher, which is markedly different.

But Bacillus anthracis is the same bacteria regardless of whether it’s being used for research or weapons. Sure, there are different strains, but they’re still all just bacteria. And if there’s one thing bacteria love to do, it’s multiply. That means that a weapons program wouldn’t require a stockpile of anthrax on hand at all times, as even a small amount could quickly be replicated into enough anthrax to use for military purposes. And because large amounts don’t need to be stockpiled, bacteria could be quickly disposed of in the event of a surprise inspection of a facility that was secretly testing biological weapons.

Like we said though, the BWC doesn’t contain any enforcement mechanism for the treaty anyway, and multiple countries are known to have violated it. The most notable instance occurred in April of 1979 when anthrax spores were accidentally leaked from a bioweapons research facility in Sverdlovsk in the Soviet Union. The facility had been constructed shortly after World War II, but it remained in operation after the Soviet Union had ratified the treaty.

On the day of April 2nd, workers removed a used air filter from the exhaust system, but forgot to replace it. Operations began again, and the lack of filter caused a plume of aerosolized anthrax to be expelled from the facility. The issue was quickly identified and a new filter was put in place, but the expelled spores had been taken by the wind and resulted in scores of infections and deaths.

The exact death total is unknown, but it’s believed to be over 100 people. Had the wind been blowing in the opposite direction, towards the heavily populated areas of Sverdlovsk, it’s estimated that hundreds of thousands of people would have died.

At the time, the anthrax outbreak was blamed on livestock. It wasn’t until over a decade later when Russia finally admitted that they had continued development of biological weapons in violation of the treaty. This isn’t the only known breach of the treaty, just the one with the most disastrous outcome.

Maybe everyone learned their lesson after that, though. Despite the fact that the BWC has no enforcement or verification mechanisms to ensure that everyone is keeping their promise, maybe they really are. That would be great, but there’s still the problem of anthrax being weaponized by non-state actors.

The first such instance occurred in 1993, though it was fortunately unsuccessful. The cult Aum Shinrikyo is best known for their 1995 attack on the Tokyo subway using sarin gas, but that was not their first attempt at biological warfare. In 1993, Aum Shinrikyo sprayed liquid filled with anthrax spores off the roof of their headquarters.

This was obviously a terrible idea, both because the liquid wouldn’t have become aerosolized and because they were contaminating the area around where they lived. However, they had also used the wrong type of anthrax. The anthrax they used, known as the Sterne strain, is an attenuated version of the bacteria used to make vaccines for livestock. Although the Sterne vaccine was not adopted for human use after testing showed a higher than acceptable incidence of adverse reactions, it was not nearly virulent enough to have had the effects that the cult was seeking.

The only time anthrax was successfully used as a weapon outside of World War I and II was in 2001, shortly after the September 11th attacks. One week after the attack, five letters were mailed to major media outlets in the United States. The letters contained anthrax spores and a photocopied letter.

A couple weeks later, a similar letter was mailed to two US senators. Both the letters to the media and the senators were dated 9-11-01, and the letter to the senators read: “You can not stop us. We have this anthrax.

You die now. Are you afraid? Death to America.

Death to Israel. Allah is great.” The letter sent to the media was similar, though that version was kind enough to inform the recipients that they needed to take penicillin immediately.

The letters sent to the senators contained a higher concentration of anthrax, and these attacks resulted in almost two dozen infections and five deaths.

To give an idea of just how deadly anthrax attacks could be, it wasn’t just people who opened the letters or were nearby at the time that got sick. Two of the victims who died were postal employees who would have never opened the letters, with a half dozen other postal employees getting sick. From the seven total letters that were mailed, anthrax spores contaminated three post offices, an outdoor mailbox, and all the buildings in which the letters were opened.

And of the five victims who died from the anthrax attacks, it’s unclear how two of them even came into contact with the spores. One was a hospital employee who lived in the Bronx, and the other was a 94 year old widow who lived in Connecticut. Neither were connected with the media, politics, or the postal service. It’s possible that their mail may have come into contact with one of the tainted envelopes during the sorting process, but we really have no idea.

And that illustrates just how dangerous these spores can be when weaponized.

The World Health Organization estimates that if 50 kg of anthrax was released upwind of a city of 500,000 people, it could result in 95,000 deaths, nearly 20% of the population. And that’s assuming everyone infected received immediate treatment. Of all the possible biological agents, anthrax has the highest estimated death toll.

It would also render the area uninhabitable for decades, unless the entire city could be decontaminated. The urban terrain would likely make this far more difficult and expensive than decontaminating Gruinard Island was, though governments would be far more motivated to decontaminate a major city than they were the private island.

While anthrax, particularly aerosolized anthrax, is incredibly lethal, with any luck we won’t see any large scale anthrax attacks. To start, almost every country in the world has pinky promised that they definitely won’t research or stockpile biological weapons. More importantly, however, the allure of anthrax as a weapon has been diminishing over time. It was initially so appealing because the disease isn’t contagious, but the spores continue to leave an area contaminated for what may as well be forever; there’s no real point in conquering land that you can’t even move into afterwards.

Again though, that logic only applies to governments, not to non-state actors, so the danger will always exist. After all, doomsday cults like Aum Shinrikyo aren’t exactly known for listening to reason.

Key Takeaways

• Anthrax is caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis and has multiple forms, with the most deadly having a 90% mortality rate without treatment.
• Anthrax is not contagious and spreads primarily through spores from infected livestock, making it an occupational hazard rather than a widespread threat.
• The disease has been known for thousands of years and was first identified by Robert Koch in 1875, leading to significant advancements in germ theory.
• Vaccination of livestock has dramatically reduced human cases, with most modern cases being the least deadly form.
• Anthrax spores are highly resilient and can remain viable for decades, making the disease a potential biological weapon despite international treaties.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is anthrax?

Anthrax is a disease caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis, and it is one of the most lethal diseases known to mankind.

How does anthrax spread?

Anthrax is not contagious and does not spread from person to person. It typically spreads to humans via livestock animals through spores that can survive in various environments.

What are the different types of anthrax infections?

There are three main types of anthrax infections: cutaneous (skin), gastrointestinal (digestive system), and pulmonary (lungs). There is also a rare type called injection anthrax.

What is the most deadly form of anthrax?

Pulmonary anthrax, which occurs when spores are inhaled, has a higher than 90% mortality rate when left untreated and about a 50% survival rate even with treatment.

How was the anthrax vaccine developed?

Louis Pasteur created the first anthrax vaccine for livestock in 1881. The first human anthrax vaccine was developed in 1954, with an improved version created in 1970.

What makes anthrax a potential biological weapon?

Anthrax spores are resilient and can remain airborne for extended periods, making them dangerous when weaponized. They can also contaminate an area for decades, rendering it uninhabitable.

Has anthrax been used as a biological weapon?

Yes, anthrax has been used as a biological weapon in the past, including during World War I and II, and in a 2001 attack in the United States where letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to media outlets and senators.

What is the Biological Weapons Convention?

The Biological Weapons Convention of 1972 is an international treaty that bans the development, production, acquisition, stockpiling, and transfer of biological weapons. Nearly every nation in the world has signed the treaty.

What is the tripartite toxin in anthrax?

The tripartite toxin in anthrax consists of three parts: the edema factor, the lethal factor, and the protective antigen. Together, they disrupt cellular functions and weaken the immune system, making the infection highly lethal.

How can anthrax spores be decontaminated?

Decontaminating areas infected with anthrax spores is difficult and expensive. The Scottish island of Gruinard, contaminated during World War II, was not decontaminated until 1987 at a cost of about $2.5 million.

Sources

• Original Into the Shadows video: Why is Ebola so Scary? #shorts
• Hero image source by Photograph by Mike Peel (www.mikepeel.net). / openverse, by-sa.

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