Anthrax Chapter (Pink Book)- 508 compliant

Anthrax Anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. The term anthrax is derived from the Greek word for coal, anthrakis, because of the black skin lesions characteristic of the disease. A disease that appears to have been anthrax was described in the biblical book of Exodus as the fifth plague in about 1490 BCE. Descriptions of anthrax affecting both animals and humans are found in early Indian and Greek writings. An epidemic of anthrax in 17th century Europe caused an estimated 60,000 human deaths. The contagious nature of anthrax was described in 1823. Bacillus anthracis was first described in 1849, and in 1876, Robert Koch definitively established a microbial origin for anthrax making this the first disease for which this was done. A live attenuated animal vaccine was developed and tested by Louis Pasteur in 1881. An improved animal vaccine containing a suspension of an avirulent, nonencapsulated live strain of B. anthracis was developed in 1939. The role of toxin in the pathogenesis of anthrax was demonstrated in 1954. A human vaccine composed of cell-free culture filtrate was developed in 1954, and in 1970 an improved cell-free vaccine was licensed in the United States. Anthrax was first used effectively as a bioterrorist agent in 2001.