Information Paper Anthrax as a Biological Warfare
Agent
Anthrax is the preferred biological warfare agent because:
It is highly lethal.
100 million lethal doses per gram of anthrax material (100,000 times
deadlier than the deadliest chemical warfare agent).
Silent, invisible killer.
Inhalational anthrax is virtually always fatal.
There are low barriers to production.
Low cost of producing the anthrax material.
Not high-technology. Knowledge is widely available.
Easy to produce in large quantities.
It is easy to weaponize.
It is extremely stable. It can be stored almost indefinitely as a dry
powder.
It can be loaded, in a freeze-dried condition, in munitions or
disseminated as an aerosol with crude sprayers.
Currently, we have a limited detection capability.
What is Anthrax?
Anthrax is a naturally occurring disease of plant eating animals (goats,
sheep, cattle, wine, etc.) caused by the bacterium Bacillus
anthracis.
It is an illness which has been recognized since antiquity. Anthrax was
common in essentially all areas where livestock are raised. Intensive
livestock immunization programs have greatly reduced the occurrence of the
disease among both animals and humans in much of the world, an most
outbreaks occur in areas where immunization programs have not been
implemented or have become compromised (primarily Africa and Asia; however,
outbreaks occurred during the mid- I 990's in Haiti and the former Soviet
Union).
Anthrax spores can remain viable for several decades under suitable
environmental conditions; thus, absence of cases does not equate to absence
of risk.
Humans can contract anthrax in three ways:
Through cuts or breaks in the skin resulting from contact with an
infected animal (cutaneous anthrax), resulting in local and possibly
systemic (bloodstream) infection.
From breathing anthrax spores (termed "woolsorters" disease) resulting
in an infection of the lungs (inhalational anthrax).
From eating infected meat, resulting in gastrointestinal infection
(gastrointestinal anthrax). Gastrointestinal anthrax is generally not
considered a threat to U.S. forces.
What are the symptoms?
Symptoms of anthrax begin after a 1 to 6 day incubation period following
exposure.
For contact or cutaneous anthrax, itching will occur at the site of
exposure followed by the formation of a lesion. Untreated contact anthrax
has a fatality rate of 5-20 percent, but with effective antibiotic
treatment, few deaths occur.
Initial symptoms for inhalational anthrax are generally non-specific:
low grade fever, a dry hacking cough, and weakness. The person may briefly
improve after 2 to 4 days; however within 24 hours after this brief
improvement, respiratory distress occurs with shock and death following
shortly thereafter.
Almost all cases of inhalational anthrax, in which treatment was begun
after patients have exhibited symptoms, have resulted in death, regardless
of post-exposure treatment.
What is the medical countermeasure?
Prior to exposure, prevention through vaccination, using the
FDA-licensed vaccine.
Otherwise, antibiotics such as penicillin, ciprofloxacin, and
doxycycline are the drugs of choice for treatment of anthrax.
Treatment with antibiotics must begin prior to the onset of
symptoms and must include vaccination prior to discontinuing their use.
The use of antibiotics keep the patient alive until their body can build
an immunity to anthrax via vaccination. After symptoms appear however,
inhalational anthrax is almost always fatal, regardless of treatment.