Anthrax is an acute disease caused by a strain of bacteria (Bacillus anthracis) which is highly lethal in some forms. It was first discovered in 1875 by Robert Koch, a german physician who's pioneering work first demonstrated that diseases could be caused by microbes. The name anthrax comes from the Greek word for anthracite (coal), anthrakitis, in reference to the black skin lesions which victims were seen to develop in the cutaneous (skin) infection version of the disease which appear somewhat like coal embers which have burned into the skin and cooled. There are 3 distinct variations of the disease, depending on whether the disease enters the human body through ingestion, inhalation, or through the skin. Symptoms will vary based on its site of entry. There are effective vaccines against anthrax, and some forms of the disease respond well to antibiotic treatment, as well. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrax#Mode_of_infection Although anthrax does not usually spread from an infected human to a noninfected human, anyone infected with the disease will generally be quarantined. If the disease is fatal the person’s body becomes a potential source of infection to others and special precautions need to be taken to prevent further contamination. If untreated until obvious symptoms occur, Inhalation Anthrax, will usually result in death, as treatment will have started too late. Anthrax Spores are found on all continents except Antarctica. When spores are inhaled, ingested, or come into contact with a skin lesion on a host they reactivate and multiply very rapidly. Anthrax most commonly infects wild and domesticated grass-eating mammals (ruminants) which ingest or inhale the spores while eating grass. Anthrax can also infect humans when they are exposed to dead infected pigs, eat tissue from infected animals, or are exposed to a high density of anthrax spores from an animal's fur, hide, or wool. Anthrax spores can be grown in vitro and used as a biological weapon. Anthrax does not spread directly from one infected animal or person to another, but spores can be transported by clothing, shoes etc.; and the body of a mammal that died of anthrax can be a very dangerous source of anthrax spores. SOVIET ACCIDENT: April 2, 1979 On April 2, 1979 some of the over one million people living in Sverdlovsk (now called Ekaterinburg, Russia), about 850 miles east of Moscow, were exposed to an accidental release of anthrax from a biological weapons complex located near there. At least 94 people were infected, of whom at least 68 died. One victim died four days after the release, ten over an eight-day period at the peak of the deaths, and the last six weeks later. Extensive cleanup, vaccinations and medical interventions managed to save about 30 of the victims. Nearly all of the night shift workers of a ceramics plant directly across the street from the biological facility became infected, and most died. Since most were men, there were suspicions by Western governments that the Soviet Union had developed a sex-specific weapon. The government blamed the outbreak on the consumption of anthrax-tainted meat and ordered the confiscation of all uninspected meat that entered the city. They also ordered that all stray dogs be shot and that people not have contact with sick animals. There was also a voluntary evacuation and anthrax vaccination program established for people from 18–55. To support the cover-up story Soviet medical and legal journals published articles about an outbreak in livestock that caused intestinal anthrax in people who consumed infected meat, and cutaneous anthrax in people who came into contact with the animals. All medical and public health records were confiscated by the KGB. In addition to the medical problems that the outbreak caused, it also prompted Western countries to be (justifiably) more suspicious of a covert Soviet Bioweapons program and to increase their surveillance of suspected sites. In 1986 the US government was allowed to investigate the incident, and concluded that the exposure was from aerosol anthrax from a military weapons facility. In 1992, President Yeltsin admitted that he was "absolutely certain" that "rumors" about the Soviet Union violating the 1972 Bioweapons Treaty were true. Although The Soviet Union, like the US and UK, had agreed to submit information to the UN about their bioweapons programs they omitted known facilities and never acknowledged their weapons program. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthrax#Soviet_accident:_April_2.2C_1979

www.gwu.edu/~cih/anthraxinfo/info/info_history.htm http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/preparedness/bt_public_hist ory_anthrax.shtm Both sites gives alittles more history on anthrax