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Bioterrorism agents that are easily spread person-to-person, leading to high death rates and potential for major public health impact; require special action for public health preparedness.
category A
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Bioterrorism agents that are moderately easy to spread and result in moderate illness and low death rates; require specific enhancements of laboratory capacity and disease monitoring.
Category B
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Bioterrorism agent that is easily available, easily produced and spread, and has the potential for high morbidity rates and major health impact.
Category C
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What are some category A bioterrorism agents? (6)
Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium botulinum toxin, Yersinia pestis, Variola major (smallpox), Francisella tularensis, Viral hemorrhagic fevers (Hantaviruses, Dengue, Ebola)
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Describe the Bacillus anthracis microbe. (5)
aerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming, vegetative cell stage, and spore stage
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When do the Bacillus anthracis vegetative cells become spores?
when nutrients are exhausted, a few hours outside the body
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What are the modes of transmission of Bacillus anthracis? (3)
broken skin (most common for people), food-borne (most common for livestock), inhalation
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Person-to-person transmission of Bacillus anthracis is _______.
very rare
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What are the forms of anthrax (disease) in people? (3)
cutaneous (most common), intestinal, inhalation (most serious form)
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What are risk factors for contraction of Bacillus anthracis? (2)
occupational/environmental settings, contact with infected animals/animal products
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Describe the pathogenesis of anthrax in animals.
animals graze contaminated soil--> spores germinate and vegetative cells rapidly multiply
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What animals are most commonly infected with anthrax? (3)
cattle, goats, sheep (VERY rare in dogs and cats)
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What is the most common form of anthrax in animals? What are 4 clinical signs?
peracute; death in <2hrs, hemorrhage from body orifices, incomplete rigor, bloat
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What are the forms of anthrax in animals? (3)
peracute (most common), acute, subacute/chronic
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Describe acute anthrax as it occurs in animals. (7)
clinical signs lasting ~48hrs, severe depression, febrile, abortions (cattle), edema (horses), colic and death (horses)
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In what animals does the subacute/chronic form of anthrax occur? (2)
pigs and dogs
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Describe the subacute/chronic form of anthrax that occurs in animals. (4)
[dogs and pigs] fever, lingual edema, ventral edema, death due to asphyxiation
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How do you treat anthrax? (3)
oxytet, penicillin, or streptomycin
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Describe prevention of anthrax in animals. (2)
vaccination of livestock, prophylaxis in exposed cats and dogs
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Describe prevention of anthrax in people. (4)
control disease in livestock, vaccine for military, treat animal hides before importation, PPE
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Describe the Francisella tularensis microbe. (5)
gram-negative, intracellular, persists in environment, highly infectious (low infectious dose), easily killed by heat/disinfectants
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What are the types of Francisella tularensis? (2)
- Type A- more virulent
- Type B- subclinical
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How is tularemia transmitted? (4)
vector-borne (ticks, mosquitoes, flies), airborne, direct, ingestion
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What are vectors of tularemia? (3)
ticks**, mosquitoes, flies
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Is there evidence of human-to-human transmission of tularemia?
no
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What are reservoirs of tularemia? (5)
rabbits, aquatic rodents (beavers, etc), rats, squirrels, prarie dogs
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Describe tularemia in people. (6)
ulceroglandular** (most common), glandular, oropharyngeal, oculoglandular, pneumonic, typhoidal
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Describe control and prevention of tularemia. (3)
reduce vector exposure, reduce oral exposure (don't drink untreated water), reduce aerosol/contact exposure
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What are the reservoir and vector of tularemia?
ticks are a reservoir and vector
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Describe disease caused in animals by tularemia. (2)
clinical disease in domestic animals as accidental hosts, subclinical infections are common in dogs and cattle
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