America and Bioterrorism
Imagine for just a moment that you are driving home from work on a beautiful Tuesday afternoon. You pull up to your mailbox to check you mail just like any other “ordinary” day. As you open the mailbox you notice a suspicious envelope addressed to you. There is a strange return address, so for a moment you become hesitant to open the letter. Finally, when you get the nerve, you rip open the envelope and pull out the letter covered in a powdery substance (“CDC Health Advisory”, 2001). Needless to say, you have no idea if this letter contains thousands of tiny anthrax spores, or powdered sugar. How would you handle something that could lead to your death? You’ve heard about anthrax on the news, but never thought something like this could happen to you!
Since the attacks on America, September 11th, 2001, Americans have been on wits end waiting to see what the terrorists are going to do next. Last month, Americans were struck with the issue of Bioterrorism when a Florida tabloid photo editor contracted anthrax, and died a couple of days later (“Suspicious Deaths”, 2001).
Well, what is anthrax? According to “The Arnot Ogden Medical Center”, a website that provides medical information to the public, anthrax is deadly, “Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis, and when inhaled by humans it’s deadly” (“Anthrax Bacteria”, 2001). Americans are worried about the dangers of anthrax because, “it’s highly lethal, one of the easiest biological agents to manufacture, easy to develop as a weapon, and can easily be spread over a large area in the air” (“The Disease”, 2001). In “The Hunt for the Anthrax Killers”, an article in Time magazine, it is said that scientists have been studying anthrax closely, “they (anthrax spores) are deadlier than we had thought…scientists warn us (the government) that we need to expand the list of those at risk and the possibilities for what’s next” (Ripley, 2001, pp.34-43). Since the first anthrax attack, many other attacks have followed (“CDC Media Relations: Press Release”, 2001) The Anthrax attacks are different for each person, considering the three different types (“The Disease”, 2001).
The medical website mentioned earlier, “The Arnot Ogden Medical Center”, explains the three different types of Anthrax, “Cutaneous (when the bacterium enters a cut or abrasion on the skin), Inhalation (when the spores are inhaled), and Intestinal (following the consumption of contaminated meat)” (“Anthrax Bacteria”, 1995-2001). Ken Ringle, a Washington Post staff writer, quoted Terry Conger, the epidemiologist for the Texas Animal Health Commmision, by stating, “A more deadly, but far less common danger for humans is gastrointestinal anthrax…According to the Dept. Of Agriculture, no cases of anthrax have occurred in the U.S. due to ingestion of contaminated food” (cited in Ringle, 2001). Cutaneous anthrax and Inhalation anthrax are the two forms that Americans are more concerned with (“Suspicious Deaths”, 2001).
As with all diseases or infections, one will experience some sort of symptoms shortly after exposure. Anthrax symptoms usually show up about one to six days after exposure (“Anthrax as a Biological Warfare Agent”,1998). According to the U.S. Department of Defense website, symptoms for cutaneous anthrax aren’t as bad as inhalation anthrax, “itching will occur at the site of exposure followed by the formation of a lesion…with effective antibiotic treatment, the fatality rate is only 5-20 percent” (“Anthrax as a Biological Warfare Agent”, 1998). On the other hand, inhalation anthrax, according to Arnot Ogden Medical Center website, states death is followed 1 to 2 days after symptoms occur, “Initial symptoms may resemble a common cold…after several days the symptoms may progress to severe breathing problems and shock, then death follows 1-2 days later” (“Anthrax Bacteria”, 1995-2001). The symptoms of Intestinal anthrax, which is not common in the U.S., affect the intestinal tract, “acute inflammation of the intestinal tract…includes nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, fever, abdominal pain, vomiting of blood, and severe diarrhea” (“Anthrax Bacteria”, 1995-2001).
Since September 11th, 2001, there have been four deaths due to the inhalation type of anthrax (“CDC Media Relations: Press Release”, 2001). According to the United States Department of Health and Human Services, there are two different cases of anthrax: a confirmed case and a suspect case (“CDC Media Relations: Press Release”, 2001). A confirmed case is a case that is laboratory confirmed, and B. anthracis is taken from an infected tissue or site (“CDC Media Relations: Press Release”, 2001). A suspect case is when a person has come in contact with anthrax in the environment but B. anthracis is not found in the person’s tissue or on the body (“CDC Media Relations: Press Release”, 2001). There have been a total of 17 confirmed cases in the U.S., and 5 suspected cases (“CDC Media Relations: Press Release”, 2001).
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