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Anthrax: the new and silent American enemy

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By Manuel García Sánchez

It’s invisible and odorless, and it can kill. During the last weeks, people have been infected by anthrax after receiving letters. Before that happened, few people knew about this substance. Unfortunately, now anthrax is one of the main words in people’s conversations.

Sue Caley, anatomy and physiology instructor, said that anthrax is a bacterium, bacillus anthracis, that grows naturally on the soil.

"It is not a virus as some media have reported," Caley said. "It is a spore-forming bacterium."

A spore is a form of bacterium that needs the appropriate conditions to germinate. Agriculture and computer instructor Doug Stockley said that anthrax requires the right climate in order to sprout.

"It requires both a warm and wet weather for its vegetative phase [in which the bacterium is dormant] and a dry weather so the spores can grow, open and spread," Stockley said.

For that reason anthrax is common in agricultural regions where it occurs in animals.

One negative aspect of this bacterium, among others, is its long life span. According to Stockley, "it can last for many years."

Stockley said he heard from a toxicologist on the radio that anthrax is not white; it is tan.

"If you see white powder, more likely it is not anthrax," he said.

The bacterium is too small to see with the naked eye.

Anthrax infection can occur in three different forms: cutaneous (skin), ingestion, and inhalation. Both, Caley and Laura Hodgson, nursing lab assistant, agree that the most lethal form of anthrax is inhalation when the bacteria enter the lungs, and the disease is usually fatal.

Caley and Hodgson also agree that ANTHRAX IS NOT CONTAGIOUS. It is impossible to spread it from person to person. So in order to get infected a person either touches it, ingests it or inhales it.

Symptoms are different depending on the kind of infection, and it can occur within the next seven days after the exposure takes place.

Hodgson said that cutaneous infection develops skin lesions that are similar to spider bites.

"The bacteria kill the skin and turn it black in the middle," she said. "A few weeks ago, cases like that were always taken to be spider bites, but now the way these symptoms are treated has changed."

Ingestion infection is characterized by an inflammation of the intestinal tract, and it may be accompanied by fever, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.

The signs of inhalation infection are flu like symptoms.

Hodgson said, "It is scary because flu season has just started."

Caley said that it may feel like a bad cold, with cough, chills and fever.

"If you came upon anthrax, you should immediately wash your hands with warm water," Hodgson said. "Don’t spread it around. Don’t show to people."

Since the disease has a bacterium origin it can be treated with antibiotics. The antibiotics will work better the sooner the disease is diagnosed. In case of inhalation, it is recommended to start taking the antibiotics within 12 hours after the exposure.

Hodgson said that the main antibiotic people are hearing about is Cipro.

"But Cipro is expensive," she said. "You can also use Doxycycline and penicillin; both also work to treat a bacterium infection."

So far only members of the U.S. Army and laboratory personnel have been vaccinated; however, vaccination is available for civilians too.

Hodgson recommended weighing the chances of getting infected and the possible side effects suffered from the vaccination . At this point, she would not take the vaccine.

"My chances of developing side effects from the vaccine are much more likely than it would be for me to come across anthrax," she said.

The whole process of vaccination is over an18-month period. It takes five vaccinations.

Some people have tried to be "funny" by sending mail and faking anthrax threats. For those who have been caught, the joke has changed to jail time.

Dr. Rebecca Donna, criminal justice program director, said that people can be arrested for inciting panic.

"It can carry an 18 months sentence," she said. "There is also a state provision in which the penalty can be increased based on the nature of the crime."

It is possible to spend many years in prison and be fined several thousand dollars.

The Director of Safety Services, Ken Sangston, said that if somebody makes threats, "we will treat it as a civilian case."

"We don’t want people to panic," said Sangston. "Everything will go through Safety Services if we have an anthrax scare."

The first thing to do, according to Sangston, is to follow the Emergency Procedures posted all around the college.

Once safety services has been given notice of a suspicious situation, this department will proceed with the guidelines sent by the State of Illinois.

Bio 1007 students are currently working on a project on Web board [online discussion]. Caley, the instructor, said that the idea is to develop a fact sheet about anthrax that will be available on her web page before Thanksgiving.