Airborne Infection with Bacillus anthracis—from Mills to Mail

نویسندگان

  • Kevin P. Fennelly
  • Amy L. Davidow
  • Shelly L. Miller
  • Nancy Connell
  • Jerrold J. Ellner
چکیده

The lack of identified exposures in 2 of the 11 cases of bioterrorism-related inhalation anthrax in 2001 raised uncertainty about the infectious dose and transmission of Bacillus anthracis. We used the Wells-Riley mathematical model of airborne infection to estimate 1) the exposure concentrations in postal facilities where cases of inhalation anthrax occurred and 2) the risk for infection in various hypothetical scenarios of exposure to B. anthracis aerosolized from contaminated mail in residential settings. These models suggest that a small number of cases of inhalation anthrax can be expected when large numbers of persons are exposed to low concentrations of B. anthracis. The risk for inhalation anthrax is determined not only by bacillary virulence factors but also by infectious aerosol production and removal rates and by host factors.

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

منابع مشابه

Bacillus anthracis Aerosolization Associated with a Contaminated Mail Sorting Machine

On October 12, 2001, two envelopes containing Bacillus anthracis spores passed through a sorting machine in a postal facility in Washington, D.C. When anthrax infection was identified in postal workers 9 days later, the facility was closed. To determine if exposure to airborne B. anthracis spores continued to occur, we performed air sampling around the contaminated sorter. One CFU of B. anthrac...

متن کامل

Determination of anthrax foci through isolation of Bacillus anthracis form soil samples of different regions of Iran

To isolate and detect anthrax spores form soil in different regions of Iran in order to find the anthrax foci‚ a total of 668 environmental specimens were collected during 2003-2004. Bacterial endospores were extracted from soil specimens via flotation in distilled water, incubation at room temperature, filtration, heat shock and culture on blood agar and selective PLET media. Bacillus anthraci...

متن کامل

Aerosol and Surface Deposition Characteristics of Two Surrogates for Bacillus anthracis Spores.

Spores of an acrystalliferous derivative of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. kurstaki, termed Btcry-, are morphologically, aerodynamically, and structurally indistinguishable from Bacillus anthracis spores. Btcry- spores were dispersed in a large, open-ended barn together with spores of Bacillus atrophaeus subsp. globigii, a historically used surrogate for Bacillus anthracis Spore suspensions (2 ×...

متن کامل

Evaluation the Efficacy of Anthrax Vaccine against Challenge with a Highly Virulent Strain of Bacillus anthracis Isolated from Soil in Sheep, Goats and Guinea Pigs in Iran

  Protection of animals immunized against Bacillus anthracis is usually demonstrated by challenging with an appropriate dose of a strain of Bacillus anthracis that is lethal to unvaccinated animals inoculated at the same time. In this study the protective efficacy in anthrax vaccine (34F2 sterne strain spore) was evaluated in sheep, goats and guinea pigs challenged with subcutaneous inoculation...

متن کامل

Application of the real-time PCR for the detection of airborne microbial pathogens in reference to the anthrax spores.

To establish the rapid detection method of airborne bacterial spores, we examined Bacillus anthracis spores by real-time PCR. One hundred liters of air were trapped on a filter of an air monitor device. After it was suspended in PBS, spores of B. anthracis were artificially added. The suspension was also heated at 95 degrees C for 15 min and used for real-time PCR using anthrax-specific primers...

متن کامل

ذخیره در منابع من


  با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید

برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید

ثبت نام

اگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید

عنوان ژورنال:

دوره 10  شماره 

صفحات  -

تاریخ انتشار 2004