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General Overview:
The most widely recognized biological terrorism agent,
anthrax manifests itself in three different forms: cutaneous,
inhalational and gastrointestinal. By far, the
inhal-ational form is the most severe type of anthrax,
leading to death in half the cases from 2001. Although
not transmissible through human-to-human contact, anthrax
can be contracted from animals (i.e. - by handling infected
wool or eating infected meat).
The Centers for Disease Control
categorize anthrax as a "Category A" agent, the deadliest of
the three categories the CDC uses to classify potential
bioterrorism characteristics in a biological agent.
Agents designated "Category A" are deemed the greatest
threats to public health, require public awareness and
demand the most planning to deal with a potential attack. |
