The CDC is investigating an unintentional release of anthrax from the Department of Defense (DOD) to multiple labs in multiple states. An article from Voice of America indicates 24 labs in 11 states and 2 countries (South Korea and Australia) have received "suspect samples" of concern.
Anthrax has quite a history, both in its naturally occuring state and as a biological weapon, as documented by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). There have been a number of anthrax "releases" over time, Recently, in 2014 there was a release at CDC's Roybal Campus . The year 2001 saw a wave of anthrax attacks. A CDC review discusses the 2001 attacks in some detail as well as discussing epidemiological findings. and provides a history of anthrax., both in a naturally occurring state and as a biological weapon.
One interesting development has been the appearance of bacillus anthracis in heroin used by European drug users. The strain involved originated in Turkey, raising a question as to how bacillus anthracis would get into the heroin supply.
The CDC provides basic information on Bacillus Anthracis. The bacteria Bacillus Anthracis exists in a dormant, sporulated state in nature, can enter the body by a variety of routes (e.g. cutaneous or inhalation pathways), become activated, spread throughout the body, multiply and produce toxins.
These incidents all represent an interesting pattern in the release of bacillus anthracis into the biosphere, taking into consideration emerging environmental issues regarding climate change. The question is to what extent the environment adapts or reacts to environmental challenges thrown its way.
As this CDC case investigation indicates, it is difficult to investigate individual cases of anthrax when they occur. Human cases of anthrax are rare, despite the fact that Bacillus Anthracis can be found naturally in the soil and commonly infects domestic and wild animals throughout the world. There may be a number of reasons for this apparent paradox, which is under investigation.
My blog article "Panspermia and Evolution" discusses Bacillus Anthracis and the distribution of life in the context of extreme environments. These are the types of situations involving low probability, high impact events.
Bacillus Anthracis is mentioned in a few of my blog articles, "Evolution of Adaptive Immunity" and in an article on "Ebola".
Bacillus Anthracis needs oxygen in order to sporulate.. This is a very interesting characteristic that may provide clues to it's activity, especially in the human body. Iron is a key element in the human body, intimately associated with a number of metabolic processes, including its role in hemoglobin and the delivery of oxygen throughout the body.
Indeed, Bacillus Anthracis uptakes iron when exposed to superoxide stress. Bacillus anthracis experiences rapid sporulation in a high iron, glucose free environment. Apparently, Bacillus Anthracis may operate as a signaling mechanism triggering iron accumulation when exposed to environmental stresses, impacting the iron catalyst of the Fenton reaction.
Transferrin blocks growth of Bacillus Anthracis via iron deprivation, an effect that is differentially expressed in cutaneous anthrax vs inhalational anthrax. This difference, in the latter case, is due to phagocytosis by macrophages, a process which occurs upon inhalation, allowing the inhaled spores to germinate intracellularly, multiply and cause infection.
It is apparent that Bacillus Anthracis forms the heart of a mystery, a challenge, as we seek to better understand the manner in which it expresses, affecting a number of medical processes in the human body. At the same time, we examine other issues impacting society on a global level, issues of climate change, global warming and their interactions with the changing environment in which we live. These issues will be discussed in further blog articles.
Center for Disease Control (CDC):
CDC Investigating unintentional DoD shipment of anthrax
Anthrax
A History of Anthrax
CDC Director Releases After-Action Report on Recent Anthrax Incident
CDC Responds to Anthrax - 2001
Review of Fall 2001 Anthrax Bioattacks
Injectional Anthrax in Heroin Users - 2000 -2012
Anthrax - Basics
Investigation of Inhalational Anthrax Case - United States
Voice of America -"Carter Vows to Find Those Responsible for Anthrax Shipment"
American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) - Anthrax FAQ
marilyndunstan.blogspot.com
Panspermia and Evolution
Evolution of Adaptive Immunity
Ebola
Medical Microbiology - Bacillus
Journal of Bacteriology - Cellular Iron Distribution in Bacillus Anthracis
Journal of Microbiological Methods - Rapid Sporulation of Bacillus Anthracis in a high iron-glucose free media
Journal Biological Chemistry - Human Transferrin Confers Serum Resistance Against Bacillus anthracis
IUPAC - Gold Book - Fenton Reaction
Wikipedia:
Oxidative Stress
Phagocytosis
Macrophage
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