Rashid A Chotani.
Anthrax a biothreat Pathogen: Medical Recognition and Management.
Infect Dis J Jan ;10(2):2-8.

The threat of biological warfare is real - it has already occurred in the past and now we face it in a new form as anthrax-laced letters are surfacing in the USA and around the world. It is critical that the medical and public health community as well as policy makers work together to develop methodologies and programs for disease and event identification and take an active stand against biological warfare programs and biological weapons. This paper discusses some of the salient features of one of the most important potential biological warfare agent `anthrax` and will identify in detail the clinical findings, as well as important diagnostic criteria for this disease. For the past half-century the main concern was a nuclear Armageddon caused by atomic weapons. However, with the discovery of various offensive biological warfare programs around the globe, the concern regarding intentional use of viruses and other microorganisms as weapons of mass destruction increased during the past, decade. A biological terrorism attack is difficult to predict, detect, or prevent, making it the most dreaded of terrorist scenarios. Now with letters laced with anthrax causing disease and mortality in the US population this threat has become a reality. Since October 3 and as of November 2, 2001, a total of 22 (17 confirmed and 5 suspected) human cases have been identified. The first case appeared in a 63 year old Florida man who received a letter containing white powdery substance on September 25, 2001. Of the confirmed cases, 10 have been inhalation and 7 cutaneous form of anthrax. Out of the 10 cases of inhalation anthrax cases 4 have died. With reports coming out of Pakistan, suggesting that various businesses around the country have received letters with powdery substance and reports that Bacillus anthracis has been positively isolated from these the letters or packages as well nasal swab of employees of one firm, it seems that Pakistan has become a target like the USA. Although confirmatory tests for the presence of B. anthracis on these specimens are still awaited, it is critical that this disease be examined and understood by the general practitioner as well as specialist in Pakistan.

PakMediNet -Pakistan's largest Database of Pakistani Medical Journals - http://www.pakmedinet.com