Weekly Online Lesson Online Lesson Archive Grade Level: 7-10 Subject: Health

Anthrax Scare

Several Americans in Florida and New York City have been exposed to Anthrax, a deadly bacteria and biological weapon. Victims in both cities were infected through direct or indirect contact with letters containing a white, powdery substance.

One Florida man has died after breathing the infectious Anthrax spores. Others have tested positive to anthrax exposure; they are being treated and are expected to recover fully.

Counterterrorism experts say Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network or other terror groups might have developed crude biological or chemical weapons, but the FBI says it has not found evidence linking the anthrax to a terrorist group.

In this week's lesson you will learn what Anthrax is and how infections are treated.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

What is anthrax and how do you treat it? These questions have been on a lot of people's minds this week amid the anthrax scare. Even though people are far more likely to die from the flu than anthrax, the fact that most Americans know little about it, and that anthrax is a known biological weapon, has made people anxious.

For your own basic introduction to anthrax, visit the authority on diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a division of the U.S. Department of Health. At the special Anthrax page, read through the list of frequently asked questions about the bacteria. You can simply click each question (link), read the answer, and then return to the top, or you can scroll down the page and read each question and answer in order.

Where is anthrax most common? What does it have to do with animals? What are the three ways of being infected, and which is usually fatal? Can anthrax be prevented?

For more about anthrax, try the Alabama Cooperative Extension System page about anthrax. You can see a photo of the bacteria here, and read more general information. What leads the FBI to think that the spores were deliberately introduced to Florida? What are the initial symptoms of an anthrax infection?

Anthrax Vaccine

As you have read in these pages, a vaccine against anthrax has been developed. Military personnel take the vaccine, as well as some health workers, emergency personnel, veterinarians, and livestock handlers who are at risk. Go to Medical NBC online to learn What Everyone Needs to Know About the Anthrax Vaccine. When was the vaccine developed? Do you still need to wear a protective mask if you have been vaccinated? Does the vaccine make you sick? After vaccination, how often is a booster shot needed?

Anthrax as a Weapon

Anthrax has been known about for centuries, and has been used as a biological weapon of war since World War I. You can learn more about Anthrax as a Weapon at this Defense Journal special report.

Focus on the section Anthrax in History. What is the scientific name of the anthrax bacteria, and who first identified it? How many people died when anthrax was accidentally released from a secret bio-weapons research facility in Sverdlovsk, USSR? When was it first used as a weapon against a civilian population?

Go on to read the section Anthrax as a Disease. How many days after infection pass before symptoms are visible? What are the symptoms of inhalation of anthrax spores?

Skim down to the section Problems of Anthrax Use as a Weapon. Why was Gruinard Island restricted to human entry for over fifty years? Why is combating anthrax so difficult?

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