[Anthrax]

Anthrax is a serious bacterial infection sustained by Bacillus anthracis and occurring in most mammals, especially grazing herbivors, but it can also involve humans when bacterial endospores enter the body through abrasions in the skin or by inhalation or ingestion. Human disease results from contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products, while there are no known cases of human-to-human transmission. The most common form of human anthrax is the cutaneous infection, usually curable with antimicrobial therapy and rarely leading to systemic and fatal disease; on the other hand, gastrointestinal and inhalatory forms (resulting from inhalation or ingestion of endospores) are very uncommon, but they show a mortality rate approaching 100 percent, usually related to septic and toxic shock. For centuries, anthrax has caused disease in animals and only a few cases in humans, with some outbreaks in developing countries. Today, after the new events in the United States, at least 17 nations are believed to have offensive biological weapon programs, and this old bacterial infection became a modern menace to world safety.