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What is Anthrax?
Anthrax is a bacterial disease usually found in animals but it can be contracted by humans in three ways.
Anthrax is a bacterial disease usually found in animals but it can be contracted by humans in three ways.
The recent New York case is cutaneous anthrax which happens when bacterial spores enter a cut on the skin.
Pulmonary anthrax - the most lethal type which has killed one man in Florida - occurs when the spores are breathed into the lungs.
The intestinal form comes from eating contaminated meat. The military has experimented with anthrax as a biological weapon for a number of years because it's easy to produce in large quantities.
There is a vaccine against anthrax. Military personnel in the Gulf War received it because of the fear that Saddam Hussein might use biological warfare. But the risk of a widespread anthrax outbreak is very low.
Dr. Vivienne Nathanson, the British Medical Association's Head of Science says there are other more potentially serious weapons such as smallpox.
Bureau Report
The intestinal form comes from eating contaminated meat. The military has experimented with anthrax as a biological weapon for a number of years because it's easy to produce in large quantities.
There is a vaccine against anthrax. Military personnel in the Gulf War received it because of the fear that Saddam Hussein might use biological warfare. But the risk of a widespread anthrax outbreak is very low.
Dr. Vivienne Nathanson, the British Medical Association's Head of Science says there are other more potentially serious weapons such as smallpox.
Bureau Report