1. Cutaneous: 95% of current Anthrax cases are cutaneous and are usually contracted by workers who work around infected animals or animal products (such as at a wool or leather factory). Skin infections of Anthrax begin with an itchy raised bump that looks like an insect bite that develops into an ulcer within 2 days. Lymph glands around the area may also swell. Deaths are rare and this form can be treated with antibiotics. 

2. Inhalation: Currently this is the most rare form of Anthrax; however, this is the most fatal and the one that the press and governmental agencies are talking about when they speak of an "Anthrax threat". Initial symptoms resemble a common cold, which develop into heavy breathing problems and shock. This can only be detected by a skin test. By the time symptoms have become obvious is too late to administer antibiotics.

3. Intestinal: This form of Anthrax is very rare and unlikely in the United States. Current precautions against e-coli (cooking and storing meat properly) also work against Anthrax so our danger of getting the disease through our food is unlikely. Initial signs of intestinal Anthrax include nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, fever, abdominal pain, vomiting of blood and severe diarrhea (CDC).

What Should a Person Do if they Think they Have Anthrax?

If a person thinks they have Anthrax they are advised, of course, to go immediately to the nearest hospital. Penicillin is the drug of choice and antibiotic treatment is known to lessen the severity of the illness in workers who acquire Anthrax through the skin (Todar). It is much harder to detect early the inhaled form of the disease so prevention is the best bet in cases of inhaled Anthrax.

How Can People Protect Themselves Against Anthrax?

Typically, vaccines cannot be created until after the fact. It takes a minimum of six months to make a vaccine once the microbial agent being used is identified. This is true for viral outbreaks as well (Novak). There is currently an immunization for the Anthrax virus that is used in the military. Information on this can be had by contacting the Vaccine Immunization Program in the U.S. Army Surgeon General's Office at 1-877-GETVACC (1-877-438-8222) or at http://www.Anthrax.osd.mil. However, vaccines against any new forms or other new diseases would not be very good at preventing the disease since they would make it to the market too late for most people.

For this reason many people are buying gas masks or stocking up on antibiotics "just in case". However, some people are also using essential oils to insure against the inhaled form of Anthrax. 

Jim Lynn reports that, "Documented in clinical studies both in France and in the U.S., essential oils are your best bet against a lethal microbial invasion. Tests reveal essential oils are highly antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antimicrobial, which means you can create an infectious-free zone within your home" (Lynn). People can also use diffusers in their office, cars and around their necks in the form of aromatherapy pendants or jewelry. However, once inhaled, essential oils remain in the body for hours protecting against anything a person may inhale outside the home as well. For this reason Jim Lynn recommends diffusing oils in the home twice a day for thirty minutes only. 

Essential oils are known to kill almost every viral, bacterial and fungal infection known to man. Tea tree oil, Thyme oil, Lavender and Eucalyptus are especially effective in defeating the following:

Staphylococcus aures
Streptococcus pneumoniae
Typhus bacillus
Diphtheric bacillus
Hemolytic streptococcus
Meningococcus
Anthrax bacillus
Common cold viruses
Influenza viruses
Bubonic plague and more (Lynn)


Are We Really at Risk?

The CDC states that, "When Anthrax affects humans, it is usually due to an occupational exposure to infected animals or their products and that direct person-to-person spread of Anthrax is extremely unlikely to occur. Communicability is not a concern in managing or visiting with patients with inhalation Anthrax" (CDC). At the same time, on January 20, 1998, President Clinton said the threat of a terrorist group launching a germ or chemical attack on American soil is "highly likely" within the next few years (3). He has announced a major program to combat exotic forms of terrorism, which is expected to dominate national defense in the next century. He named Anthrax as one possible germ (Lynn). 

However, according to some biologists the threat of Anthrax is not as real as the government makes it sound. Gary Novak, a biologist says that, "Journalists and bureaucrats run wild with their imaginations, because they do not have a clue as to the biology of the subject (Novak)." He further states that, " Terrorists cannot weaponize the spores to be effective against more than a few people at once. The machinery required would cost hundreds of millions of dollars and require several PhDs to run. Iraq uses Anthrax in liquid form, which is totally ineffective Anthrax will never be used successfully as a terrorist weapon, and probably never as a military weapon. It has to be converted to spores suspended in the air, which is technically very difficult and the lethality is nowhere near the terror that it is made out to be."

He names a number of reasons why Anthrax is not and will never be a major threat:

1. It is not 100% lethal: Wool sorters inhale Anthrax spores in small quantities continually (150-700 per hour), and only if they get a large dose does an infection get started.

2. We have already been exposed: There are Anthrax spores in the ground in rural areas that we have been exposed to for years.

3. Anthrax is a "gram positive" bacterium: This means it has the type of cell walls which are harmless, unlike the cell walls of "gram negative" bacteria, which attack tissue. Therefore, Anthrax can only attack tissue by producing a special toxin, which it excretes. One cell or spore does not produce enough toxins to start an infection. Studies have apparently determined that, typically, ten thousand Anthrax spores must be inhaled to start an infection.

4. It is too expensive to produce the inhaled form: You would have to use a powder and Such an operation costs hundreds of millions of dollars, considering related facilities and development. Only countries do that, not radical groups, and not in five gallon buckets as the news media sometimes claims. 

5. Even the inhaled form would be largely ineffective: This would discourage even the least intelligent terrorist from making an investment in the production of Anthrax. Even in powder form, the spores would fall to the ground rapidly in the absence of wind. Anthrax is not adapted for airborne dissemination. It needs to stay on the ground until inhaled by livestock. So it would not stay in the air like mold spores but would fall out easily, about like flour. In the presence of wind, the spores would be carried away rapidly and would not stay in one place long enough for anyone to get more than a few inhaled.

6. Other methods of production are unrealistic: Many people imagine there are many other ways to disperse the bacteria into the environment. However they do not realize that bacteria are as fragile as eggshells. You cannot "grind them up" or "blend them up into a smoothie" as easily as it sounds. Furthermore, in liquid form, Anthrax is almost as safe as cotton candy.

Novak concludes by saying that the entire concept of biological warfare is flawed because there is no disease in existence, which is propagated in that manner. Even the airborne diseases require close contact with the source. The reason is because wind disperses the agents too thinly, and gravity brings them down too rapidly. Increasing the quantities massively will get a few persons, but only a few. 

One has to consider this is a possibility. In Florida, a man was infected by a form of the virus in what is now being investigated as a terrorist attack. However, only one co-worker so far has been found to be infected with him. The other 300 people in the office have so far tested negative for the disease. Not a very effective biological weapon (Yahoo). However, as the popular Hadith states, "Have faith in Allah, but tie your camel first." It wouldn't hurt to start using your essential oils or have some antibiotics on hand.


References:

Miller, Judith. "Clinton Describes Terrorism Threat for the 21st Century." New York Times. Jan 22, 1998.

Lynn, Jim. "WHILE AMERICA SLEEPS...The story of approaching pestilence" Health-Line 2000. Issue #3.

CDC. "Anthrax." Center of Disease Control and Information. October 1, 2001.

Novak, Gary. "Biological Weapons as Misinformation."

Riddle, Amanda. "FBI Probes Fla. Anthrax Cases." AP News Wire. October 9, 2001.

Todar, Kenneth. "Biology 330 at the University of Wisconsin: Anthrax." 1999.