Coming to terms with Anthrax

Seven deaths have been reported throughout the United States, and the causes are likely due to Anthrax. This disease has induced fear into much of America, and there are people on the case ready to wipe it out of existence.

“We are not sure of where the Anthrax came from, the United State or a foreign group,” said Dr. Pierre Rollin of the Center for Disease Control, National Center for Infectious Diseases Branch. “The bacteria used is very frequent and well-distributed throughout the world. There is not yet any evidence that the bacteria used has been genetically modified to be resistant to the antibiotics or weaponized to produce very potent aerosols.”

Anthrax has proven to be a very potent killer, as it was used most recently by Iraqi forces during the Gulf War in 1991. Anthrax can be produced in either a wet or dry form. The cases that the United States has been dealing with most recently have been the dry form of Anthrax.

“The only difference between the two types of Anthrax is in the route of introduction that the Anthrax spores have with the organism,” said Rollin. “If the bacteria or spore is ingested, the person will get the digestive form of the bacteria, if the spores go through the skin, the person will get a cutaneous form of the disease, and if the spores are inhaled and go inside the lung, the person will have pulmonary Anthrax.”

Being that this disease is fairly easy to catch if someone comes into
direct contact with it, there have been many precautionary measures that have been taken by many corporations and businesses to make the working environment safer for its workers. The United States Postal Service is already taking steps toward making its warehouses safer.

Symptoms of Anthrax include fever, fatigue and chest congestion, followed by severe respiratory distress and even shock or death. Because Anthrax starts its deadly course feeling like a simple chest cold, it is hard to determine the real cases from the false before it is too late.

“The disease is mainly provoked by some toxins that are produced by the bacteria,” said Rollin. “At the very early stages, antibiotics are effective and will kill the bacteria. But if the bacteria is already too far along, as in the case of a man in Fla., too many toxins had already been produced for the antibiotics to handle.”

Rollin, who has worked for the Atlanta-based CDC for nine years, has seen this type of epidemic many times before but never on American soil.

“I have mainly dealt with a disease called Ebola,” said Rollin. “Ebola is a viral hemorrhgic fever that causes internal bleeding to the point of death. Ebola was quite different because it always happened in remote foreign areas. It is a very different disease compared to Anthrax because there are no treatment methods, and the disease is passed from human to human.”

Rollin feels that the United States will handle these cases well and finally reach a conclusion as to who is responsible for the attacks.

“The big problem is not the number of real cases but the number of hoaxes that you have to deal with. When it reaches the political arena, you have other problems to deal with that are not really linked to science but perception,” said Rollin.

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Nov 2 2001. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry