Anthrax

Many Americans have not been educated to a full degree about the issue of anthrax.
             The anthrax attack caused many Americans to fear what could happen to them. At the time issues of bio-terrorism had been discussed very little in Congress. When the first cases of anthrax were reported, nobody really had any idea what to expect from it. As the anthrax attacks unfolded, it became clear that almost everything the experts believed was wrong (Saporito, 126).
             The one question was who is responsible for these anthrax attacks? The answer to this, nobody really knows. The USAMRIID is close to making a genetic fingerprint of the anthrax powder, but has yet to match the fingerprints to anybody (Lemonick, 46). Since it is not known who did this, all that can be done is to research it and find out what to do if contaminated with it.
             Anthrax is a colorless, odorless, tasteless bacterium that protects itself from the sunlight, heat, and disinfectant by forming a protective coat. The spores are so small that it would take 8,000 to 10,000 for deadly inhalation anthrax to infect someone (Saporito, 129). This much of a dose most usually is the amount needed to affect a human, but smaller dosages of the bacteria can cause infection.
             There are three different types of anthrax: Cutaneous, Inhalation, and Intestinal. They each have different ways of being transmitted to the human body, different effects, and have different ways of being cured.
             The first kind of anthrax is Cutaneous, the most common type in America. About ninety-five percent of anthrax cases are the Cutaneous form (CDC Disease Information). "Cutaneous anthrax is transmitted when someone is handling contaminated wool, hides leather, or hair products of infected animals, and the anthrax spores enter through a cut or an abrasion on the skin" (Regush, Carpenter). "The skin infection then turns into a raised itchy bump that is dark in color and resembles an insect bite.