List of anthrax outbreaks

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This page lists notable outbreaks of anthrax, a disease of humans and other mammals caused by Bacillus anthracis , organized by year. [1]

Incidents

IncidentDateCasualtiesDescription
Sverdlovsk anthrax leak 2 April 1979Around 105 victims.On 2 April 1979, an outbreak of anthrax occurred in Sverdlovsk, USSR. It is believed that anthrax spores were accidentally released from a secret military facility. An official report stated that 64 people died during April and June.

The victims died within a few weeks of exposure to the bacteria. 11 others survived. [2] [3] [4] Traces of the leak were allegedly covered up by Soviet authorities. The Soviet Union strongly denied any involvement and blamed locals consuming infected meat, in fear of revealing Biological Weapons Convention violations. [5] A leaflet campaign warned residents not to buy meat from unofficial markets. [2] [4] The incident was kept secret until the 1990s. [2]

Victims suffered from pulmonary anthrax but Soviet scientists claimed that it was gastrointestinal to support the claims that infected meat was responsible for the outbreak. Some journalists claimed that the death toll was as high as 100 victims.

1998 Russian FederationJune - July 19982 deaths

15 infected

A relatively small outbreak started in Russia after the consumption of meat from privately-raised cattle. All received treatment and officials reported the situation as under control by August 1998. [6]
2001 anthrax attacks 18 September 20015 deaths

17 infected

In September 2001, letters containing anthrax spores were mailed to several news media offices and two U.S. Senators, killing five people and infecting 17 others. Of those infected, 11 developed cutaneous anthrax, while 11 developed inhalation anthrax. 20 of the 22 infected worked at a site where contaminated mail was handled or received. [7]

It is possible that Bruce Edwards Ivins was responsible for this incident. He was a doctor working on an anthrax vaccination for more than 20 years, which got pulled off the market. Federal investigators have suggested that he infected the mail with anthrax spores so the public would realize they need the anthrax vaccination. [8] He later killed himself with a tylenol overdose before charges could be brought against him.

2014 anthrax outbreakOctober 20147 deathsIn October 2014, an outbreak of gastrointestinal and skin anthrax in a village from India in the Simdega district, Jharkhand allegedly killed seven people. Indian government health personnel quarantined 30 houses as a result. Officials traced the anthrax spores to a cow and found that people who had touched the dead cow or eaten from it became infected. The Indian National Centre for Disease Control said at the time that the outbreak was one of the biggest in recent years in terms of deaths. [9]

Government officials sent samples of the suspected anthrax to a laboratory in Delhi for confirmation testing. People with the victims reported that the victims vomited blood and complained of chest and stomach aches. [10] The Hindustan Times reported that village residents lynched a man who had treated some anthrax patients with herbs. [11]

2016 anthrax outbreakJuly 20161 human death (~100 infected)

2,300 animal deaths

In July 2016, nearly 100 people were hospitalized amid an anthrax outbreak among nomadic communities in northern Siberia, Russia and more than 2,300 reindeer died from anthrax infections in Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug. A 12-year-old child also died due to the outbreak. [12] Scientists believe the melting unearthed the frozen carcass of a reindeer that died in a previous anthrax outbreak in 1968. [13]
2018 anthrax outbreakJune 2018Cattle farms affected in France [14]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biological warfare</span> Use of strategically designed biological weapons

Biological warfare, also known as germ warfare, is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, insects, and fungi with the intent to kill, harm or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war. Biological weapons are living organisms or replicating entities. Entomological (insect) warfare is a subtype of biological warfare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bioterrorism</span> Terrorism involving biological agents

Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents include bacteria, viruses, insects, fungi, and/or their toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form, in much the same way as in biological warfare. Further, modern agribusiness is vulnerable to anti-agricultural attacks by terrorists, and such attacks can seriously damage economy as well as consumer confidence. The latter destructive activity is called agrobioterrorism and is a subtype of agro-terrorism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cholera</span> Bacterial infection of the small intestine

Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea lasting a few days. Vomiting and muscle cramps may also occur. Diarrhea can be so severe that it leads within hours to severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalance. This may result in sunken eyes, cold skin, decreased skin elasticity, and wrinkling of the hands and feet. Dehydration can cause the skin to turn bluish. Symptoms start two hours to five days after exposure.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pandemic</span> Widespread, often global, epidemic of severe infectious disease

A pandemic is an epidemic of an infectious disease that has a sudden increase in cases and spreads across a large region, for instance multiple continents or worldwide, affecting a substantial number of individuals. Widespread endemic diseases with a stable number of infected individuals such as recurrences of seasonal influenza are generally excluded as they occur simultaneously in large regions of the globe rather than being spread worldwide.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quarantine</span> Epidemiological intervention to prevent disease transmission

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SARS</span> Disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus

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On 2 April 1979, spores of Bacillus anthracis were accidentally released from a Soviet military research facility in the city of Sverdlovsk, Soviet Union. The ensuing outbreak of the disease resulted in the deaths of at least 68 people, although the exact number of victims remains unknown. The cause of the outbreak was denied for years by the Soviet authorities, which blamed the deaths on consumption of tainted meat from the area, and subcutaneous exposure due to butchers handling the tainted meat. The accident was the first major indication in the Western world that the Soviet Union had embarked upon an offensive programme aimed at the development and large-scale production of biological weapons.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">1846–1860 cholera pandemic</span> The third major outbreak of cholera, 1846–1860 worldwide pandemic

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References

  1. ↑ "Emergencies, preparedness, response: Anthrax". World Health Organization (WHO). Archived from the original on 23 February 2003. Retrieved 15 January 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 ""Пора нашим властям и военным назад оборачиваться"". Новая газета - Novayagazeta.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  3. ↑ Meselson, Matthew; Guillemin, J; Hugh-Jones, Martin; Langmuir, A; Popova, I; Shelokov, A; Yampolskaya, O (1 December 1994). "The Sverdlovsk anthrax outbreak of 1979". Science. 266 (5188): 1202–8. Bibcode:1994Sci...266.1202M. doi:10.1126/science.7973702. PMID   7973702.
  4. 1 2 "PUBLIC HEALTH RESPONSE". www.ph.ucla.edu. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  5. ↑ "The Sverdlovsk Anthrax Outbreak of 1979". www.ph.ucla.edu. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
  6. ↑ "1998 - Anthrax, Russian Federation". www.who.int. Retrieved 14 September 2023.
  7. ↑ Jernigan DB; Raghunathan PL; Bell BP; Brechnert R; Bresnitz EA; Butler JC; Cetron M; et al. (October 2002). "Investigation of Bioterrorism-Related Anthrax, United States, 2001: Epidemiological Findings". Emerging Infectious Diseases. 8 (10): 1019–1028. doi:10.3201/eid0810.020353. PMC   2730292 . PMID   12396909.
  8. ↑ Lipton, Eric (8 August 2008). "Doubts Persist Among Anthrax Suspect's Colleagues". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  9. ↑ Daw, Daniel (30 October 2014). "Anthrax outbreak causes quarantine of Indian village". BioPrepWatch. Chicago, Illinois. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  10. ↑ "Anthrax scare in Jharkhand's Simdega". The Times of India. 23 October 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  11. ↑ Herriman, Robert (31 October 2014). "India: Anthrax outbreak prompts quarantine of Simdega district village". Outbreak News Today. Tampa, Florida: The Global Dispatch, Inc. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  12. ↑ "Anthrax outbreak triggered by climate change kills boy in Arctic Circle". The Guardian. August 2016.
  13. ↑ "1,500 reindeer dead, 40 humans hospitalized amid anthrax outbreak in Siberia". VICE News. 30 July 2016.
  14. ↑ "Worst Anthrax Outbreak in Decades Strikes Farms in France". Live Science . 20 August 2018.
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