Anthrax Outbreak.

I just saw a news item on an anthrax outbreak in Africa and so I thought I'd google it and find out. I typed in 'Anthrax Outbreak below are some of the returns for recent news stories.

Turkey - 1 hour ago

Turkish village quarantined after anthrax outbreak
Anatolian Times, Turkey - 1 hour ago
... in the southeast of the country Tuesday after eight villagers were diagnosed with anthrax, the Anatolia news agency reported. The outbreak was discovered when ...
Turkish authorities quarantined a village in the southeast of the ... TODAYonline
all 2 related »
Anthrax outbreak reported in Harare
Xinhua, China - 23 Jun 2005
HARARE, June 23 (Xinhuanet) -- An anthrax outbreak has been reported on farms in the Harare metropolitan area, the Veterinary Services Department said on ...

Gutu 13 Jun 2005

Anthrax Outbreak in Humans Resurfaces in Gutu
AllAfrica.com, Africa - 13 Jun 2005
AN anthrax outbreak in humans has resurfaced in Gutu district in Masvingo with five cases having been reported since the beginning of last week and reports ...

Guinea Bissau 14 Jun 2005

Guinea Bissau struggles with anthrax outbreak in humans, cattle
CIDRAP - 14 Jun 2005
Jun 14, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – An anthrax outbreak in the small African country of Guinea Bissau has killed 4 people and sickened more than 80. ...

Zimbabwe 13 Jun 2005

Anthrax outbreak in humans resurfaces in Zimbabwe
People's Daily Online, China - 13 Jun 2005
An anthrax outbreak in humans has resurfaced in Zimbabwe's Masvingo province with five cases having been reported and one person dead since the beginning of ...

Ghana - 1 Jun 2005

Stem outbreak of anthrax in Upper East - MPs
GhanaWeb, Ghana - 1 Jun 2005
... Mr Bagbin urged the Parliamentary Committee on Food and Agriculture to take up the matter of the anthrax outbreak in the Upper East and Upper West Regions with ...

news.google.co.uk...

I had no idea just how prevelant it was. All of those within the last month all across africa even in Turkey !!!

Is this normal ???

Originally posted by John bull 1


Is this normal ???

Im not sure how it can be.

People can still get anthrax. It's curable, but it's not extinct. So I doubt that these are out of the ordinary. In fact, there are about 23 cases of anthrax a year in the US alone.

For more information you can always check out the CDC Anthrax Q & A.

Thanks Cmd, could you refresh my mind of where it comes from?

Were the anthrax "attacks" that occurred in the US a couple of years ago ever resolved? Is it me or did it seem that th enews just went quiet on the subject? Did they find out who was responsible? What happened to them?

And if I am correct and there wasnt "closure" to those events, well... isnt THAT news worthy?

Peace

Originally posted by Serum39
Were the anthrax "attacks" that occurred in the US a couple of years ago ever resolved? Is it me or did it seem that th enews just went quiet on the subject? Did they find out who was responsible? What happened to them?

And if I am correct and there wasnt "closure" to those events, well... isnt THAT news worthy?

Peace

You are correct there was no closer, it just stopped.

I think they identified the source was a defence lab and they interviewed a doctor.

But I can't remember.

Originally posted by SpittinCobra
Thanks Cmd, could you refresh my mind of where it comes from?

From the same CDC site:

B. anthracis spores can live in the soil for many years, and humans can become infected with anthrax by handling products from infected animals or by inhaling anthrax spores from contaminated animal products. Anthrax can also be spread by eating undercooked meat from infected animals.

The most common way is through the soil though.

Where does it say that any of the outbreaks listed by JB1 are "attacks?" No where. These are just normal outbreaks that occurr every year. Check out the CDC link I posted above.

yeah man, this is nothing really, Anthrax is in the soil. So you have a bunch of areas in the world, where unfortunatly the sanitary conditions are not that great, you have people, well drinking "dirty" water just to stay alive.

The conditions are really poor for some people and you throw in there some animal remains and you have a prime breeding ground for all sorts of things. Not just anthrax but thousands of deadly parasits, virus, walking bacteria etc.

But yes, people get infected through natural contact with contaminated soil.

Now if you get a bunch of people visiting these infected/ spore producing areas, and they leave and are un-knowingly becoming carriers then yeah it could turn out to be a problem. But thankfully the secondary exposure in these cases is so small that the Anthrax spores that may be transported either die off or do not amount to a great enough number to allow the spore to take hold.

Its a purposeful response to the taegeted populations
They want rid of them
Vaccinations is only another way of killing them

[edit on 5-7-2005 by dh]

Anthrax is actually very common in different forms. There's a lot more of it out there than people realize. You have more chance of seeing a normal outbreak, or catching it from "natural" sources than you do of ever being caught in a biological attack.

Originally posted by Serum39
Were the anthrax "attacks" that occurred in the US a couple of years ago ever resolved? Is it me or did it seem that th enews just went quiet on the subject? Did they find out who was responsible? What happened to them?

And if I am correct and there wasnt "closure" to those events, well... isnt THAT news worthy?

Peace

Diversion. Wag the dog. Take your mind off 9/11. Put you in a fear state that makes you concentrate on one thing.

Get it? Got it? Good!

No closure. It just went away as has 9/11

I won't pretend to know whats normal for this sort of thing, but I'd think that a disease associated with cattle can pop up in cattle ranching societies, I think that there is lots of pastoralism in africa and turkey. Something to keep an eye on certainly (especially if it turns up as having been a Ft. Detrick Strain! :lol

Originally posted by John bull 1
I think they identified the source was a defence lab and they interviewed a doctor.

He was a guy who had worked for the apartheid government in south africa and was invovled in a disease outbreak there, supposedly used against the blacks in the region. I think it was anthrax too. The investigation couldn't connect him to the outbreak.

us military grade anthrax used in the terrorist mailings is one thousand times the strength of regular anthrax, which is quite common, and only presents a threat to humans when entering through a cut. inhaling spores is not something you would do. you would have to stick your face in the dirt of an animal path. i think sheep are the most common carrier?
i think these reports are probably statistically normal.
if it was an outbreak of anthrax concerts, i would be concerned.

this is from memory, so feel free to correct me.

Ya I think they identified it as coming from Fort Dietrick, MD.

Because of the anthrax attacks in 2001, there are no longer mailboxes in my town, you have to go to the post office and be video taped, to send any kind of mail.

Anthrax is not common, but not exactly uncommon. In places like Turkey they use human and animal manure as fertilizer for crops. I was there twice in 1996 and we were told not to eat any produce because of that. Anthrax was one of many possible diseases you could get by eating the produce grown there.

Weaponized anthrax is much more potent for several reasons. It is altered in the lab to produce strains that are more deadly to humans. It is also in a much smaller, finer, powdered form which makes it easier to get into your body by inhalation. Weponized strains of anthrax can pass right through your lungs unfiltered.