Anthrax - Fear of the Fear
Created | Updated Jul 11, 2003
The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.
The very word, anthrax, has become, in recent times, a by-word for fear. Yet the condition is relatively unknown to the general public, even though it does cause worry in most.
So why, and indeed, how, has the small bacterium, Bacillus anthracis become mankind's worst fear?
The Bacteria
Firstly, some things need to be made clear. Anthrax is the disease, and not the bacteria which causes it. Although the press do refer to the unnerving moments when a white powder is found in an envelope as 'containing anthrax', this is not the case.
Bacillus anthracis is a natural dwelling organism, often found in the soil. Bacteria often find it hard to survive in conditions which aren't the most favourable, ie too dry, or too cold. Some bacteria, however, have developed a cunning way of surviving the toughest of climes; they form spores.
Creating a hard 'shell' around them, the bacteria can lie dormant until the time comes when more favourable conditons arrive. Then the shell degrades, and the bacteria can go forth and multiply. Bacillus anthracis is one of these bacteria.
As it is found in the soil, livestock are the main group of animals which really suffer from this disease. Grazing on pastures infected with the bacteria means that the livestock will injest it, and really suffer quite badly. In fact, farmers fear anthrax as much as they fear foot and mouth disease.
The Human Condition
So how is it that a disease that primarily affects livestock is so feared by humans? It used to be the case, before meat handling hygiene laws, that the disease was mainly caught through the handling of infected meat. It cannot be caught through cooked meat, as the bacteria is killed by the process of cooking. Not even the protective spore can shield against cooking. Even so, handlers primarily caught the cutaneous (skin) form of anthrax, as the bacteria multiplied on the skin. Even so, this would only form a few sores, and that is easily treatable.
What scares people more is the other forms; inhalational and gastrointestinal (stomach and guts) anthrax.
What this requires is that an individual inhales or eats the bacteria's spores. Flu-like symptoms then develop, and in the case of inhalational anthrax, breathlessness. This then progresses to massive gastrointestinal bleeding and the collapse of the lungs. Even with antibiotics, these two types are usually fatal.
For a public raised on disaster movies and tabloid news, this is their worst nightmare. However, the crux is this: infection and disease caused by Bacillus anthracis is rare. Very rare in fact. The reason; even though it may be easy to find, it is difficult to deliberately infect a person or persons with the bacteria.
Spores have to be of the right size to be inhaled. In both cases, one would have to ingest or inhale a certain amount of spores to be infected in such a manner. In terms of communicating the disease from person to person, that, although not impossible, is so difficult it can be considered as such.
The more recent 'envelope' delivery system is, again, very hit and miss. It all depends on how the target would open the letter. Call it user-dependant if you will. Even dropping it from a crop duster is very hit and miss, as that all depends on the wind direction, and the spores would be too finely dispersed for it to have any effect.
Who Would Use it as a Weapon?
The most popular idea is that terrorists and so-called 'rogue states' would use this somehow as a means to inact terrorist activity, or indeed, as a weapon of war. Certainly, if an easily communicable disease was used, then lots of people would die, and horribly. Except Bacillus anthracis can't be passed easily from person-to-person. Tests by the US and UK goverments after the Second World War to elucidate the use of the bacteria pretty much ruled out its use as a weapon of war, simply because of the difficulty involved. The Aum Cult, infamous for the Sarin attack on the Tokyo Underground system, did try to use the spores of the bacteria in a failed terror attack which involved them throwing packets of spores onto the crowded city streets. As that was unsucessful; ie no-one was affected, even slightly, that was when they resorted to the nerve gas, Sarin.
Also, there is the psychology of the terror groups. These organisations are looking to attract attention to themselves, and more often than not, the best way to do that is by bombing a very important building or killing vast numbers of people. The September 11th incident is a key example. Two high-profile buildings devastated when people were just arriving for work. It is a low-effort, maximum publicity event, much easier than developing a way of spreading the bacteria.
So from this, it would seem that the use of the bacteria in such a manner by the aforementioned groups is pretty unlikely, but not impossible.
What is more likely is that anthrax would be used as a weapon by a lone individual or indeed a small domestic group who hold a grudge. They tend to send packages to people of note, and realising the public fear about the disease, attempt to try and subvert the nation's morale.
So to conclude...
Anthrax is a nasty disease, that much is true. However, there is nothing more fearful than fear itself, and the notoriety of the disease preceeds it, perpetuated by none other than the tabloids and the media.
You are more likely to be killed crossing the road, or driving a car than you are to die from anthrax, and from the disease pathways, it will remain that way too. Although there is no doubt in this researcher's mind that we should fear the bacteria, it seems to many others that is not the case. What is happening should be put into perspective, and not allow ourselves to fear the fear of what is a rare disease. Even on trying to research the human form of anthrax, your Researcher found only two pages from five books (three of which didn't even have the disease profile) which contained half of a paragraph each on the disease, such is its rarity and unlikelihood to be caught by the public.
And the summary of the summary:
Don't Panic!
- from the cover of The Hitch-Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy
