The contamination is thought to have been less than 1 gram of anthrax spores in the facilities. The economic costs of the 2001 anthrax attacks resulted in over 100 million dollars being spent to decontaminate postal plants. Outside of the initial threat to individuals there are the costs of economic disruption, decontamination and treatment from such an event. The results of this model with the most efficient medical response resulted in more than 100 000 deaths, which increases by a factor of 7 with slower antibiotic distribution. Threat to the population Ī mathematical model of a simulated large-scale airborne anthrax attack in a large city (1 kg anthrax spores in a city of 10 million people) was created, which takes into account the dispersion of spores, the age-dependent dose-response, the dynamics of disease progression and the timing and organization of medical intervention. The destructive effects of an anthrax attack on a large city may have the destructive capacity of a nuclear weapon. The symptoms present as a common cold or flu, and may take weeks before appearing. Potential threat to the population and economy Īnthrax spores are able to be dispersed via multiple methods and infect humans with ease. Post exposure symptoms resemble flu-like illness followed by a fulminant phase of severe acute respiratory distress, shock and, ultimately death. Once the spores are in the lungs they are then able to replicate in blood, travel to the lymph nodes, and produce toxins which lead to death.
They are able to reach deep into the lungs when inhaled. When airborne, anthrax spores are not easily detectable, and are several microns in diameter.
Concentrated anthrax spores, and not necessarily the bacterium Bacillus anthracis, pose the biggest risk as a biological weapons to humans.
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