Bact. 102: Anthrax Links

Bacteriology 102: Biological Weaponry Updates and Information

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Anthrax Updates/Information

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Modified:
5/10/06

For information on anthrax and its causative agent Bacillus anthracis, the Bact. 330 course (Host-Parasite Interactions) has a page here.
The University of Wisconsin has anthrax information here.
Public Health Emergency Preparedness and Response (from the CDC) is a general resource for information on biological terrorism.
Agroterrorism Information Page.
And then there is (and always will be) Anthrax – that good-natured, fun-loving heavy-metal band. There may still be some links to anthrax (the disease) on their website.

Whatever your source of information, appreciate the fact that Bacillus anthracis is not a virus! If it were, it would not be treatable by penicillin and various other antibiotics. The spores (called "endospores") produced by the cells of this species (and the other, generally non-pathogenic species of Bacillus) are themselves complete and viable cells (not mere "structures" as they are too-often taught), and they need to break their dormancy and germinate into the usual kind of actively-metabolizing ("vegetative") cells that are characteristic of bacteria in general before they colonize their new habitat. The spores may be resistant to a wide variety of physical and chemical agents, but the vegetative cells are susceptible to antibiotics which work best when administered as needed. Infections occuring as the result of B. anthracis entering a break in the skin (cutaneous anthrax) are thus treated quite successfully.

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Page last modified on 5/10/06 at 4:15 PM, CDT.

John Lindquist, Department of Bacteriology

University of Wisconsin – Madison