The Right Chemistry: Bacteria are fearsome, especially when weaponized |
They used to call it “wool sorter’s disease” or “hide-porter’s disease” because the affliction struck workers who spun wool or carried animal skins. They would sometimes develop circular lesions on their skin with a coal black centre, hence the name of the disease “anthrax” from the Greek word for coal. In rare instances drummers developed anthrax as they beat animal-skin drums.
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The cause of the disease is infection by the bacterium bacillus anthracis that can cause severe illness and even death. Dormant forms of the bacterium known as spores can be found in the soil and contaminate the feed of grazing animals. Once ingested, the dormant forms revive and become live bacteria that then spew out toxins that cause the symptoms of the illness.
These symptoms depend on whether the spores or the live bacteria are inhaled, ingested, or invade the body through openings on the skin. Inhalation causes fever, shortness of breath and chest pain, while ingestion results in diarrhea, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. Inhalation is the most dangerous form of exposure. Luckily, the disease does not spread person to person, but people can become sick by eating........