Friday, January 9, 2009

Just thought you should be refreshed!

Cutaneous (skin) infection is the most common form of the disease. It occurs when the spores come in contact with an area of skin that is broken, such as a cut or a sore. Cultaneous anthrax is marked by an itchy, blister-like lesion that eventually forms a boil with a black center. The boils respond well if treated with antibiotics right away.

Symptoms may develop one to six days after exposure to the germ. Since the anthrax germ can live for a long time in the environment, symptoms may not start for up to 60 or more days after the germ has released into the air.

If the germ gets into your skin, your skin will have small sore that will become a blister. The blister then develops into a boil with a black area in the center.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) classify agents with known bioterrorism potential into three priority areas (A, B and C). Anthrax is ranked as a Category A agent. Category A agents are those that:

pose the greatest threat to public health

may spread across a large area or need public awareness

need a great deal of planning to protect the public’s health

Clothing for anthrax response

DuPont does not recommend protective equipment for users who do not
have the training to assess the hazards, correctly select and properly use
the equipment. No one should attempt to respond to a bioterrorism
incident without adequate training and without contacting local
emergency response agencies. Local emergency responders are trained
to deal with potential terrorism incidents.

Anthrax case sparks training at Army labs - Security- msnbc.com

Anthrax case sparks training at Army labs - Security- msnbc.com