Anthrax

Anthrax(Bacillus anthracis)

Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. B. anthracis was so called after the Greek word for black coal ('anthracis'), due to the black necrotic ulcers characteristic of cutaneous anthrax infection. Anthrax is primarily a disease of domesticated and wild animals, particularly herbivores such as cattle, sheep, horses, mules and goats. The bacterium produces spores which can survive dormant in the soil for many years and although human anthrax is fairly rare, infection occurs incidentally through contact with diseased animals or by inhaling anthrax spores from contaminated animal products such as flesh, bones, hides, hair and excrement.

Because the skin form of the disease is characterized by lesions that turn jet-black. The three forms of anthrax disease (skin or cutaneous, inhalation, and gastrointestinal) are all caused by the same bacterium, Bacillus anthracis.When sprayed as a fine aerosol mist, anthrax spores could be a weapon of mass destruction. An odorless, invisible cloud of anthrax could trigger thousands of cases of inhalation anthrax, the most deadly form of the disease. Bioweapons programs in both the U.S. and the Soviet Union have mastered the ability to aerosolize anthrax. 

Making a lethal anthrax aerosol requires access to advanced biotechnology, which some experts believe is beyond the capability of most terrorists. However, groups with substantial funding and expertise could acquire the needed materials.            

Incubation period before symptoms:12 hours - 5 days

Symptoms:                                                                                           Cutaneous:Skin infections begin as itchy bumps resembling insect bites, then develop into lesions about half an inch to a little over an inch in diameter. Lesions become covered by black scabs, swollen lymph nodes. 
Inhalation: fever, chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, fluid in lungs, severe breathing difficulty, shock and respiratory failure. 
Gastrointestinal: nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, fever 
abdominal pain, severe diarrhea, abdominal bleeding 
How it would be spread
Letters with anthrax powder will cause only isolated cases of disease, relatively few in number. Poisoning of food is difficult to achieve with anthrax and is not considered likely. Aerosol spraying is the gravest threat. Anthrax diseases are not contagious.
Treatment
A variety of antibiotics can treat all three forms of the disease. Inhalation anthrax, however, progresses so quickly that, once symptoms are clear, it may be too late for drugs to prevent death.                                                           
Vaccine
The vaccine for anthrax used by the U.S. military is not currently available to the general public. It is given in a series of six shots over 18 months. Annual booster injections are recommended.