Editing Anthrax (section)

== Society and culture ==
=== Site cleanup ===
Anthrax spores can survive for very long periods of time in the environment after release. Chemical methods for cleaning anthrax-contaminated sites or materials may use [[oxidizing agent]]s such as [[peroxides]], [[ethylene oxide]], Sandia Foam,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-04/dnl-sdf042607.php |title=Sandia decon formulation, best known as an anthrax killer, takes on household mold |date=26 April 2007 |access-date=13 August 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080905212823/http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-04/dnl-sdf042607.php| archive-date= 5 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> chlorine dioxide (used in the [[Hart Senate Office Building]]),<ref name = "Wang_2015">{{cite web | title = The Anthrax Cleanup of Capitol Hill | vauthors = Wang X | work = EPA Alumni Association | url = https://www.epaalumni.org/userdata/pdf/6C70838638374E92.pdf#page=8 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180930034008/https://www.epaalumni.org/userdata/pdf/6C70838638374E92.pdf#page=8 | archive-date= 30 September 2018 | date = 12 May 2015 }}</ref>{{rp|8}} peracetic acid, ozone gas, hypochlorous acid, sodium persulfate, and liquid bleach products containing sodium hypochlorite. Nonoxidizing agents shown to be effective for anthrax decontamination include methyl bromide, formaldehyde, and metam sodium. These agents destroy bacterial spores. All of the aforementioned anthrax decontamination technologies have been demonstrated to be effective in laboratory tests conducted by the US EPA or others.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.epa.gov/nhsrc/aboutdecon.html#iodra|title=Remediating Indoor and Outdoor Environments|access-date=10 October 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131013053043/http://www.epa.gov/nhsrc/aboutdecon.html#iodra|archive-date=13 October 2013}}</ref>

Decontamination techniques for ''Bacillus anthracis'' spores are affected by the material with which the spores are associated, environmental factors such as temperature and humidity, and microbiological factors such as the spore species, anthracis strain, and test methods used.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Wood JP, Adrion AC | title = Review of Decontamination Techniques for the Inactivation of Bacillus anthracis and Other Spore-Forming Bacteria Associated with Building or Outdoor Materials | journal = Environmental Science & Technology | volume = 53 | issue = 8 | pages = 4045–62 | date = April 2019 | pmid = 30901213 | pmc = 6547374 | doi = 10.1021/acs.est.8b05274 | bibcode = 2019EnST...53.4045W }}</ref>

A bleach solution for treating hard surfaces has been approved by the EPA.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ehso.com/bleach.htm |publisher=Society for Applied Microbiology |title=Using Bleach to Destroy Anthrax and Other Microbes |access-date=13 August 2008 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080517034547/http://www.ehso.com/bleach.htm |archive-date=17 May 2008 }}</ref> [[Chlorine dioxide]] has emerged as the preferred biocide against anthrax-contaminated sites, having been employed in the treatment of numerous government buildings over the past decade.<ref name="rastogi">{{cite journal | vauthors = Rastogi VK, Ryan SP, Wallace L, Smith LS, Shah SS, Martin GB | title = Systematic evaluation of the efficacy of chlorine dioxide in decontamination of building interior surfaces contaminated with anthrax spores | journal = Applied and Environmental Microbiology | volume = 76 | issue = 10 | pages = 3343–3e51 | date = May 2010 | pmid = 20305025 | pmc = 2869126 | doi = 10.1128/AEM.02668-09 | bibcode = 2010ApEnM..76.3343R }}</ref> Its chief drawback is the need for ''[[in situ]]'' processes to have the reactant on demand.

To speed the process, trace amounts of a nontoxic [[catalyst]] composed of iron and tetroamido macrocyclic [[ligand]]s are combined with [[sodium carbonate]] and [[bicarbonate]] and converted into a spray. The spray formula is applied to an infested area and is followed by another spray containing [[tert-butyl hydroperoxide]].<ref name="Pesticide Disposal Goes Green">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/5581/title/Pesticide_Disposal_Goes_Green |magazine=Science News |title=Pesticide Disposal Goes Green |access-date=8 June 2009 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629214707/http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/5581/title/Pesticide_Disposal_Goes_Green |archive-date=29 June 2011 }}</ref>

Using the catalyst method, complete destruction of all anthrax spores can be achieved in under 30 minutes.<ref name="Pesticide Disposal Goes Green" /> A standard catalyst-free spray destroys fewer than half the spores in the same amount of time.

Cleanups at a Senate Office Building, several contaminated postal facilities, and other US government and private office buildings, a collaborative effort headed by the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency|Environmental Protection Agency]]<ref name = "Wang_2015" />{{rp|3}} showed decontamination to be possible, but time-consuming and costly. Clearing the Senate Office Building of anthrax spores cost $27&nbsp;million, according to the Government Accountability Office. Cleaning the Brentwood postal facility in Washington cost $130&nbsp;million and took 26 months. Since then, newer and less costly methods have been developed.<ref>{{cite book | vauthors = Wessner D, Dupont C, Charles T, Neufeld J|title=Microbiology |date=3 December 2020 |publisher=John Wiley & Sons |isbn=978-1-119-59249-5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GzcDEAAAQBAJ&dq=Cleaning+the+Brentwood+postal+facility+in+Washington+cost+%24130+million+and+took+26+months.+Since+then,+newer+and+less+costly+methods+have+been+developed.&pg=PA264 |language=en}}</ref>

Cleanup of anthrax-contaminated areas on ranches and in the wild is much more problematic. Carcasses may be burned,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/01/us/anthrax-expert-faces-fine-for-burning-infected-carcasses.html |title=Anthrax Expert Faces Fine for Burning Infected Carcasses | vauthors = Broad WJ |date=1 March 2002 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226205419/http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/01/us/anthrax-expert-faces-fine-for-burning-infected-carcasses.html |archive-date=26 December 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> though often 3 days are needed to burn a large carcass and this is not feasible in areas with little wood. Carcasses may also be buried, though the burying of large animals deeply enough to prevent resurfacing of spores requires much manpower and expensive tools. Carcasses have been soaked in formaldehyde to kill spores, though this has environmental contamination issues. Block burning of vegetation in large areas enclosing an anthrax outbreak has been tried; this, while environmentally destructive, causes healthy animals to move away from an area with carcasses in search of fresh grass. Some wildlife workers have experimented with covering fresh anthrax carcasses with shadecloth and heavy objects. This prevents some scavengers from opening the carcasses, thus allowing the putrefactive bacteria within the carcass to kill the vegetative ''B. anthracis'' cells and preventing sporulation. This method also has drawbacks, as scavengers such as hyenas are capable of infiltrating almost any exclosure.{{citation needed|date=May 2021}}

The experimental site at [[Gruinard Island]] is said to have been decontaminated with a mixture of formaldehyde and seawater by the Ministry of Defence.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/scotland/1457035.stm |title=Britain's 'Anthrax Island' |date=25 July 2001 |newspaper=BBC News |access-date=26 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161226205629/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk/scotland/1457035.stm |archive-date=26 December 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref> It is not clear whether similar treatments had been applied to US test sites.

=== Biological warfare ===
{{main|Anthrax weaponization}}
[[File:Colin Powell anthrax vial. 5 Feb 2003 at the UN.jpg|thumb|[[Colin Powell]] giving a [[Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations Security Council|presentation to the United Nations Security Council]], holding a model vial of supposed weaponized anthrax]]

Anthrax spores have been used as a [[biological warfare]] weapon. Its first modern incidence occurred when Nordic rebels, supplied by the [[German General Staff]], used anthrax with unknown results against the [[Imperial Russian Army]] in Finland in 1916.<ref>{{cite web | vauthors = Bisher J | title = Anthrax sabotage in Finland or Baron von Rosen's sugarcoated anthrax weapon | quote = During World War I, Terrorists Schemed to Use Anthrax in the Cause of Finnish Independence | work = Military History | date = August 2003 | pages = 17–22 | url = http://www.geocities.com/jamie_bisher/anthrax.htm | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170324172104/https://web.archive.org/web/20091027151654/http://geocities.com/jamie_bisher/anthrax.htm | archive-date = 24 March 2017 }}</ref> Anthrax was first tested as a biological warfare agent by [[Unit 731]] of the Japanese Kwantung Army in [[Manchuria]] during the 1930s; some of this testing involved intentional infection of prisoners of war, thousands of whom died. Anthrax, designated at the time as Agent N, was also investigated by the Allies in the 1940s.<ref>{{Cite web |title=DOD Technical Information |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADB228585.pdf |access-date=31 October 2023 |archive-date=31 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231031204303/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADB228585.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1942, British scientists at [[Porton Down]] began research on [[Operation Vegetarian]], an ultimately unused [[Biological warfare|biowarfare]] [[military operation plan]] which called for animal feed pellets containing [[Flax|linseed]] infected with anthrax spores of the [[Vollum strain|Vollum-14578 strain]] to be dropped by air over the countryside of [[Nazi Germany]]. The pellets would be eaten by cattle, which would in turn be eaten by the human population and as such severely disrupt the German war effort. In the same year, bioweapons tests were carried out on the uninhabited [[Gruinard Island]] in the [[Scottish Highlands]], with Porton Down scientists studying the effect of anthrax on the island's population of sheep. Ultimately, five million pellets were created, though plans to drop them over Germany using [[Royal Air Force]] bombers in 1944 were scrapped after the success of [[Operation Overlord]] and the subsequent Allied liberation of France. All pellets were destroyed using incinerators in 1945.<ref>{{Cite book| vauthors = Cole LA |title=Clouds of Secrecy: The Army's Germ Warfare Tests Over Populated Areas|publisher=Rowman and Littlefield|year=1990|isbn=978-0-8226-3001-2|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780822630012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Saddam's germ war plot is traced back to one Oxford cow |newspaper=The Times |url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1726745,00.html | vauthors = Robertson D |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051225102048/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1726745,00.html |archive-date=25 December 2005 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=UK planned to wipe out Germany with anthrax|work=Sunday Herald|location=Glasgow|date=14 October 2001}}</ref> 
 
Weaponized anthrax was part of the US stockpile prior to 1972, when the United States signed the [[Biological Weapons Convention]].<ref>{{cite book | veditors = Croddy EA, Wirtz JJ |title=Weapons of mass destruction: an encyclopedia of worldwide policy, technology, and history |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzlNgS70OHAC&pg=PA21 |year=2005 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=978-1-85109-490-5 |page=21 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170222225432/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZzlNgS70OHAC&pg=PA21 |archive-date=22 February 2017 }}</ref> President [[Richard Nixon|Nixon]] ordered the dismantling of US biowarfare programs in 1969 and the destruction of all existing stockpiles of bioweapons. In 1978–79, the [[Rhodesia]]n government used anthrax against cattle and humans during its campaign against rebels.<ref>{{cite news|title=Traditional Medical Practitioners Seek International Recognition |date=16 November 2001 | vauthors = Martin D |work=Southern African News Features |url=http://www.sardc.net/editorial/sanf/2001/iss21/specialreport.html |access-date=19 October 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130511004056/http://www.sardc.net/editorial/sanf/2001/iss21/specialreport.html |archive-date=11 May 2013 }}</ref> The Soviet Union created and stored 100 to 200 tons of anthrax spores at [[Kantubek]] on [[Vozrozhdeniya Island]]; they were abandoned in 1992 and destroyed in 2002.<ref>{{cite news |vauthors=Pala C |date=22 March 2003 |title=Anthrax buried for good |url=https://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/bioter/anthraxburied.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Times]] |access-date=26 August 2020 |archive-date=17 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210517193233/http://www.ph.ucla.edu/epi/bioter/anthraxburied.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Military of the United States|American military]] and [[British Army]] personnel are no longer routinely vaccinated against anthrax prior to active service in places where biological attacks are considered a threat.<ref name=anthraxmilitary />

==== Sverdlovsk incident (2 April 1979) ====
{{Main|Sverdlovsk anthrax leak}}
Despite signing the 1972 agreement to end bioweapon production, the government of the Soviet Union had an active bioweapons program that included the production of hundreds of tons of anthrax after this period. On 2 April 1979, some of the over one million people living in Sverdlovsk (now called [[Ekaterinburg, Russia]]), about {{convert|850|mi|km|order=flip}} east of Moscow, were exposed to an [[Sverdlovsk anthrax leak|accidental release of anthrax]] from a biological weapons complex located near there. At least 94 people were infected, of whom at least 68 died. One victim died four days after the release, 10 over an eight-day period at the peak of the deaths, and the last six weeks later. Extensive cleanup, vaccinations, and medical interventions managed to save about 30 of the victims.<ref name=Guillemin_1999_275>{{cite journal | vauthors = Guillemin J |title=Anthrax: The Investigation of a Deadly Outbreak |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |date=2000 |volume=343 |issue=16 |url=https://archive.org/details/anthraxinvestiga0000guil/page/275 |url-access=registration |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=978-0-520-22917-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/anthraxinvestiga0000guil/page/275 275–77] |pmid=11041763 |doi=10.1056/NEJM200010193431615 }}</ref> Extensive cover-ups and destruction of records by the [[KGB]] continued from 1979 until Russian President [[Boris Yeltsin]] admitted this anthrax accident in 1992. [[Jeanne Guillemin]] reported in 1999 that a combined Russian and United States team investigated the accident in 1992.<ref name=Guillemin_1999_275/><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plague/sverdlovsk/ |title=Plague war: The 1979 anthrax leak |work=Frontline |publisher=PBS |access-date=13 August 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080917132957/http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/plague/sverdlovsk/| archive-date= 17 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=18982 |title=Anthrax – From Russia with Love |work=Infectious Diseases: Causes, Types, Prevention, Treatment and Facts |publisher=MedicineNet.com |access-date=13 August 2008 | vauthors = Fishbein MC |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081024172944/http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=18982 |archive-date=24 October 2008 }}</ref>

Nearly all of the night-shift workers of a ceramics plant directly across the street from the biological facility (compound 19) became infected, and most died. Since most were men, some [[NATO]] governments suspected the Soviet Union had developed a sex-specific weapon.<ref name="Alibek">{{Cite book | vauthors = Alibek K |title=Biohazard |location=New York |publisher=Delta Publishing |year=1999 |isbn=978-0-385-33496-9 |url=https://archive.org/details/biohazardchillin00alib_0 }}</ref> The government blamed the outbreak on the consumption of anthrax-tainted meat, and ordered the confiscation of all uninspected meat that entered the city. They also ordered all [[stray dog]]s to be shot and people not have contact with sick animals. Also, a voluntary evacuation and anthrax vaccination program was established for people from 18 to 55.<ref name="Meselson">{{cite journal | vauthors = Meselson M, Guillemin J, Hugh-Jones M, Langmuir A, Popova I, Shelokov A, Yampolskaya O | title = The Sverdlovsk anthrax outbreak of 1979 | journal = Science | volume = 266 | issue = 5188 | pages = 1202–08 | date = November 1994 | pmid = 7973702 | doi = 10.1126/science.7973702 | bibcode = 1994Sci...266.1202M }}</ref>

To support the [[cover-up]] story, Soviet medical and legal journals published articles about an outbreak in livestock that caused gastrointestinal anthrax in people having consumed infected meat, and cutaneous anthrax in people having come into contact with the animals. All medical and public health records were confiscated by the KGB.<ref name="Meselson" /> In addition to the medical problems the outbreak caused, it also prompted Western countries to be more suspicious of a covert Soviet bioweapons program and to increase their surveillance of suspected sites. In 1986, the US government was allowed to investigate the incident, and concluded the exposure was from aerosol anthrax from a military weapons facility.<ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Sternbach G | title = The history of anthrax | journal = The Journal of Emergency Medicine | volume = 24 | issue = 4 | pages = 463–67 | date = May 2003 | pmid = 12745053 | doi = 10.1016/S0736-4679(03)00079-9 }}</ref> In 1992, President Yeltsin admitted he was "absolutely certain" that "rumors" about the Soviet Union violating the 1972 Bioweapons Treaty were true. The Soviet Union, like the US and UK, had agreed to submit information to the UN about their bioweapons programs, but omitted known facilities and never acknowledged their weapons program.<ref name="Alibek" />

==== Anthrax bioterrorism ====
In theory, anthrax spores can be cultivated with minimal special equipment and a first-year collegiate [[microbiology|microbiological]] education.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-researchers-find-anthrax-can-grow-and-reproduce-soil |access-date = 1 October 2013 |title = U.Va. Researchers Find Anthrax Can Grow and Reproduce in Soil |date = 17 October 2012 | vauthors = Barney J |work = U. Va. Health System |publisher = University of Virginia site |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20121021063057/http://news.virginia.edu/content/uva-researchers-find-anthrax-can-grow-and-reproduce-soil |archive-date = 21 October 2012 |df = dmy-all}}</ref> To make large amounts of an [[aerosol]] form of anthrax suitable for biological warfare requires extensive practical knowledge, training, and highly advanced equipment.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1590859.stm |access-date=16 April 2016 |title=Anthrax as a biological weapon |date=10 October 2001 |publisher=BBC News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505140938/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1590859.stm |archive-date=5 May 2016 }}</ref>

Concentrated anthrax spores were used for bioterrorism in the [[2001 anthrax attacks]] in the United States, delivered by mailing postal letters containing the spores.<ref>{{Cite book| vauthors = Cole LA |title=The Anthrax Letters: A Bioterrorism Expert Investigates the Attacks That Shocked America – Case Closed?|publisher=SkyhorsePublishing|year=2009|isbn=978-1-60239-715-6|url=https://archive.org/details/anthraxlettersbi0000cole|url-access=registration}}</ref> The letters were sent to several news media offices and two Democratic senators: [[Tom Daschle]] of South Dakota and [[Patrick Leahy]] of Vermont. As a result, 22 were infected and five died.<ref name="Pimental04"/> Only a few grams of material were used in these attacks and in August 2008, the US Department of Justice announced they believed that [[Bruce Edwards Ivins|Bruce Ivins]], a senior biodefense researcher employed by the United States government, was responsible.<ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Bohn K | title = U.S. officials declare researcher is anthrax killer | publisher=CNN | date = 6 August 2008 | url = http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/06/anthrax.case/index.html | access-date =7 August 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080808213014/http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/08/06/anthrax.case/index.html| archive-date= 8 August 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref> These events also spawned many [[anthrax hoaxes]].

Due to these events, the US Postal Service installed [[Autonomous Detection System|biohazard detection systems]] at its major distribution centers to actively scan for anthrax being transported through the mail.<ref>{{cite web |title = Cepheid, Northrop Grumman Enter into Agreement for the Purchase of Anthrax Test Cartridges |publisher = Security Products |date = 16 August 2007 |url = http://secprodonline.com/articles/2007/08/16/cepheid-northrop-grumman.aspx |access-date = 26 March 2009 |url-status = live |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110716031354/http://secprodonline.com/articles/2007/08/16/cepheid-northrop-grumman.aspx |archive-date = 16 July 2011 |df = dmy-all}}</ref> As of 2020, no positive alerts by these systems have occurred.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://about.usps.com/news/state-releases/sc/2013/FAQ-BDS.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://about.usps.com/news/state-releases/sc/2013/FAQ-BDS.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|title=USPS BDS FAQ}}</ref>

==== Decontaminating mail ====
In response to the postal anthrax attacks and hoaxes, the United States Postal Service sterilized some mail using gamma [[irradiation]] and treatment with a proprietary [[enzyme]] formula supplied by Sipco Industries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.usps.com/news/facts/lfu_021202.htm|access-date=13 August 2008|title=Latest Facts Update |date=12 February 2002|publisher=USPS|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509204939/http://www.usps.com/news/facts/lfu_021202.htm |archive-date=9 May 2009}}</ref>

A scientific experiment performed by a high school student, later published in the ''Journal of Medical Toxicology'', suggested a domestic [[ironing|electric iron]] at its hottest setting (at least {{convert|400|°F|°C}}) used for at least 5 minutes should destroy all anthrax spores in a common postal envelope.<ref>{{cite news |title=Seventeen-year-old devises anthrax deactivator |date=23 February 2006 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna11522143 |work=[[NBC News]] |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007082027/http://www.nbcnews.com/id/11522143/ns/msnbc-the_ed_show/t/seventeen-year-old-devises-anthrax-deactivator/ |archive-date=7 October 2014 }}</ref>