s once epidemic and still appears in many world areas, but only rarely in the western and southern United States. It was the first disease for which the in the wrong organism was isolated, by 0. J. Davaine in 1863, for which a pure culture was obtained, by Robert Koch in 1876, and for which an effective vaccine was developed, by Louis Pasteur in 1881. Animals got the disease from drinking water from contaminated dirt, in which the organism may live for years; from eating infected carcasses and feedstuffs; and from the bites of bloodsucking insects. The disease, sometimes manifested by staggering, bloody discharge, convulsions, and suffocation, may be fatal almost immediately in particular cases and within three to five days in some cases. Death is caused by toxemia. Preseasonal inoculations and antibiotics are effective. In humans, the disease appear's in both outside and inside forms, with a death rate of about 20 percent. The external form is contracted through cuts in the skin by those who handle infected hides and carcasses and may be self-limiting, but often gets into the bloodstream, with fever and exhaustion. It is characterized by malignant pustules on exposed skin areas. The inside type is acquired by inhaling anthrax cells, as from animal hair and wool, which take over the lungs and sometimes the intestinal tract to cause lose blood. It is speculated that an intestinal variety may be caused by consuming contaminated meat or milk. Workers exposed to animal products, especially wool, are protected by vaccination. Penicillin is effective in treatment except in rapidly progressing cases. The worst outbreak of anthrax occurred in 1979, when a biological weapons plant in Sverdlovsk, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (present-day Yekaterinburg) released an aerosol form of the anthrax pathogen. The source of this exposure, which killed 66 people, was publicly denied until 1994. In conclusion, biological weaponry are very deadly and ...
