Anthrax

the sequel

We would normally begin a lecture as follows, with an informative slide......

Humberto Guerra

Instituto de Medicina TropicalAlexander von Humboldt

UNIVERSIDAD PERUANACAYETANO HEREDIA

But, we now know more; We saw this in the media:

A Scanning Electron Micrograph of Bacillus anthracis...

Bacillus anthracis vegetative cells are pictured in this

undated photomicrograph from the United States military

Anthrax vaccine immunization program web site.

U.S. authorities tried to calm a jittery nation October 14,

2001 after anthrax scares sparked fears that the postal

system was being used to wage biological warfare just

days after the FBI warned of possible new attacks on the

United States.

In his weekly radio address, President George W. Bush

told listeners the nation was acting to protect itself

against terrorism and its people should not be afraid.

(US DOD via Reuters)

With the following Caption:

How to spread terror for the price of a stamp The New York Times writer at the centre of an anthrax scare says the hoaxers have found an easy way to create fear

Judith Miller in New YorkMonday October 15, 2001The Guardian

 

AND, we could even learn exciting new things: (This is an actual title of an article in The Guardian, U.K.):

Another letter postmarked from the same city* on Oct. 5 arrived at the New York Times today, addressed to Judith Miller, a reporter who is a specialist in bioterrorism. As Miller opened the envelope, a fine white powder spilled out, dousing her lap and falling to the floor. The letter contained a handwritten note that threatened a terror attack on the Sears Tower in Chicago. City officials said the powder did not appear to be infected with anthrax and last night said test results had come back negative.

*St. Petersburg, Florida

Washington Post Online, Oct. 13, 2001

Three of the “Anthrax-laced” envelopes

(SEALED, of course)

The Big Scare:

Dangerous Anthrax spores were being delivered through the U.S. Mail !

Sound advice was given by the Postal Services themselves......

The news continued over weeks......

Images on the news and international handling of mail

October 12, 2001 – More news on Florida anthrax cases

October 16, 2001 – Precautions (!?) with suspicious mail

Oct 16 - U.S. Capitol – Precautions, and good advice

An Austrian army specialist is seen during a de-contamination exercise in Vienna October 19, 2001. The army has been called out to deal with several suspected cases of contamination following anthrax infections in the U.S. in the last few days, but so far they have turned out to be false alarms. (Heinz-Peter Bader/Reuters)

“Proper procedure” in Antibes, France

Disinfectant showers, part of “proper procedure”,

Antibes, France

An Argentine biologist handles bags containing envelopes suspected of containing anthrax, while a colleague puts on a mask, at the Buenos Aires' Malbrán Institute, Friday, Oct. 19, 2001. Argentine health authorities said preliminary tests for one of the envelopes, a letter from the United States, tested positive, final result will be known later Friday. No anthrax was found in some 300 other suspicious envelopes which have already been analyzed by experts. (AP Photo/La Nacion, Carlos Barria) Buenos Aires, Argentina

A fireman wearing protective clothing is hosed-off by a colleague after removing a letter containing white dust from a bank in downtown Stockholm, Sweden, Friday, Oct. 19, 2001. So far, fifty letters from all over Sweden suspected of containing anthrax have been collected for analysis.

A police officer stands at the entrance of the Houses of Parliament in London,U.K., Friday Oct. 19, 2001. Britain's House of Commons delayed its opening by an hour on Friday after a package containing white powder was discovered in the members' post office. Although there has been only one confirmed case of an anthrax-tainted letter outside of the United States, anthrax scares multiplied worldwide on Friday. (AP Photo/PA, Matthew Fearn)

Postal worker Nair Bucena sorts mail while wearing a protective mask and gloves at the central mail room in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Friday, Oct. 19, 2001. Amid the recent worldwide threats of mail containing anthrax spores, security has been increased at all Brazilian post offices.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)

South Korea: police officers in protective gear run to attend an exercise against potential biochemical terror at the headquarters of National Police Agency in Seoul, Friday, Oct. 19, 2001. South Korean government have strengthened inspections of packages and letters at government buildings, in response to the spreading world anthrax scares. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Two biohazard investigators are prepared to enter the Dirksen Senate office building, Sunday, Oct. 21, 2001, in Washington, as sweeping for anthrax in congressional office buildings continues. (AP Photo/Kenneth Lambert)

There are new developments...Laboratory techniques are being supplemented or replaced

Large, old Bacillus anthracis colonies on a Petri dish, full of spores....

Chemistry students Jorge Rodríguez Martínez, right, and Ana Lilia Sandoval, left, work with samples of Anthrax bacteria at the National School of Biological Sience in Mexico City, Wednesday, Oct. 17,

2001. (AP Photo/Víctor R. Caivano)

Dr. Héctor Manuel Zepeda looks at a sample of Anthrax bacteria, shown right on the television screen, at the National School of Biological Science in Mexico City, Wednesday, Oct. 17, 2001. (AP Photo/Víctor R. Caivano)

Some laboratory techniques

• Gram stain• Culture - Specially

– Blood culture– Sputum culture– Pleural fluid– Cerebro spinal fluid

• Differentiation - Biochemistry

- Phage - Antisera

• Immunohistochemistry using Monoclonal Antibodies (Mab) vs.:

- Capsular antigen

- Cell wall • Polymerase Chain

Reaction (PCR)

Traditional Newer

and then there are the newest, innovative RAPID techniques.......

Mario Vaillancourt, a researcher at the Infectious Disease Research Center of Laval University in Quebec City, inserts a tube in a device to test for Bacillus anthracis (Anthrax), Friday Oct.19, 2001 . Researchers developed the test for Infectio Diagnostic Inc. (IDI), which produces the world's only test that can detect directly from a clinical sample in less than one hour. The new test was developed for the Canadian Armed Forces.

(AP Photo/CP, Jacques Boissinot)

Tests were done in many different environments, and nose swabs taken from people, to look for Bacillus anthracis spores.

People known or suspected to be exposed were placed on preventive treatment with Ciprofloxacin, as recommended by CDC guidelines, for 60 days; in addition, they were offered the Anthrax vaccine.

Capitol physician Dr. John Eisold, right, and Lt. Dan Nichols, spokesman for the U.S. Capitol Police, hold a joint news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington Sunday, Oct. 21, 2001. Dr. Eisold said Sunday 4,500 to 5,000 people have been tested on Capitol Hill since the Daschle letter was discovered a week ago. Twenty-eight of them have tested positive for exposure to anthrax but none have contracted the disease. (AP Photo/Linda Spillers)

Capitol Hill:

>5,000 TESTED

28 EXPOSED

Sick? NONE!

Source: New York Department of Health

Source: New York Department of Health

WHY was prophylaxis with Ciprofloxacin extended to 60 days?

BECAUSE in Sverdlovsk cases appeared more than 40 days after exposure, and because of data from animal experiments

More on Sverdlovsk