Three types of anthrax are seen in people: cutaneous (skin), intestinal, and inhalation. The incubation period for the disease is approximately 2 to 7 days. In people, cutaneous anthrax accounts for about 95% of all natural infections and develops when B. anthracis enters the skin through existing cuts or abrasions. Without antibiotic treatment, the death rate from cutaneous anthrax is approximately 20%; if appropriately treated, death is rare.

Anthrax in humans is rare. Most cases develop in people whose occupations place them in close contact with livestock or the contaminated products of livestock such as wool, goatskin, and pelts. Direct human-to-human transmission of anthrax is extremely unlikely.

In nearly all cases it is transmitted to humans by the bite of a tick infected with these bacteria. In a population of ticks, only some will carry the infection.

Cutaneous: Most (about 95%) anthrax infections occur when the bacterium enters a cut or abrasion on the skin, such as when handling contaminated wool, hides, leather or hair products (especially goat hair) of infected animals. Skin infection begins as a raised itchy bump that resembles an insect bite but within 1-2 days develops into a vesicle and then a painless ulcer, usually 1-3 cm in diameter, with a characteristic black necrotic (dying) area in the center.

The diagnosis for anthrax infection is done by finding Bacillus anthracis bacteria in a person's blood, skin lesions, or respiratory secretions, or by measuring specific antibodies in the blood. Anthrax is treated with antibiotics. Antibiotics must be given early - any delay, even hours, may lessen chances for survival. For those treated with antibiotics, the risk of recurrence is high for 60 days.

Anthrax infection in animals can be respiratory or intestinal. Clinical signs may include fever, respiratory difficulty, excitement followed by depression, incoordination, vomiting, diarrhea, bloody discharges, convulsions, and death.

Vaccination is effective at preventing infection in animals and people. Animal vaccines have not been approved for and should not be administered to humans. A vaccine is available for humans, and the FDA has recently approved distribution of human anthrax vaccine from a US manufacturing facility. Population-wide vaccination in the United States has not been recommended, however, because risk of exposure to anthrax has been considered to be low.

Anthrax is a disease caused by a bacterium (germ) called Bacillus anthracis that can form spores that can travel through the air. Anthrax most commonly occurs in warm-blooded animals, especially goats, cattle, and sheep, but it can also infect humans. Anthrax infection can occur in three forms: cutaneous (skin), inhalation (lung), and gastrointestinal (stomach and intestines). Inhalation anthrax is the most serious form of the disease and is caused by breathing anthrax into the lungs.

Infection can be prevented and treated with antibiotics. Because the course of the disease is rapid, prompt administration is essential. Effective antibiotics include ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, and amoxicillin.

Bacterial endocarditis occurs when bacteria (germs) enter the bloodstream and lodge inside the heart, where they multiply and cause infection. A normal heart has a smooth lining, making it difficult for bacteria to stick to it. However, persons with congenital heart disease may have a roughened area on the heart lining caused by pressure from an abnormal opening or a leaky valve. Even after surgery, roughened areas may remain due to scar tissue formation or patches used to redirect blood flow.

CWD is relatively rare. In Colorado, for example, fewer than 200 cases, mostly in mule deer, have been documented since 1981. In checking hunter-harvested animals, less than 6% of deer and 1% of elk in north-central and northeastern Colorado were found to have CWD. Similar surveillance in southeastern Wyoming also indicated that less than 7% of deer had CWD. Deer and elk checked outside these areas in Colorado and Wyoming did not have CWD.

The peak age for type 1 diabetes is around 14 years old, although it can occur later in life, even up to the mid 30s. Type 2 diabetes usually develops in adults age 40 and older and is most common in adults over age 55. However, as more and more children become overweight it is becoming increasingly common in the younger populations.

It is unlikely that you will develop an anthrax infection while you are taking antibiotics, but it is not impossible. Because of that possibility, you should watch for: Anthrax vaccination in a military population before the war in Iraq: Side effects and informed choice

Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax most commonly occurs in wild and domestic lower vertebrates (cattle, sheep, goats, camels, antelopes, and other herbivores), but it can also occur in humans when they are exposed to infected animals or to tissue from infected animals or when anthrax spores are used as a bioterrorist weapon.

Generally speaking, forces currently designated to receive anthrax vaccine also will receive smallpox vaccine. Additional forces will be vaccinated against smallpox given that smallpox, unlike anthrax, is contagious and can be prevented only with vaccine. The Secretary of Defense may decide in the future to expand the scope of both the anthrax and smallpox vaccination programs.

People can catch anthrax from infected animals or contaminated animal products. Most natural infection comes from skin contact. In the past, industrial wool sorters were at high risk of infection. You can also get anthrax infection from eating raw or too-rare meat, although it is uncommon. Even more uncommon - but by far most deadly - is anthrax caught by inhaling spores. This is because a person has to inhale several thousand spores before infection can take hold.

The anthrax spores can spread by inhalation (the most fatal form), ingestion or contact with an abrasion, cut or open wound on the skin. Only eight thousand (8,000) spores, roughly enough to cover a snowflake, are needed to cause pulmonary disease when incubated in the warm and humid conditions of the human lung.

Most people infected with West Nile Virus do not become ill. People with a mild infection may present with fever, headache, eye pain, muscle aches, joint pain, a rash on the trunk, and/or swollen lymph nodes. In severe cases (less than 1% of those infected), symptoms include extreme muscle weakness, inflammation of the brain (encephalitis), paralysis, and coma. In rare cases the infection may be fatal, particularly in the elderly and people with other medical conditions.

Anthrax infection can occur in three forms: cutaneous (skin), inhalation, and gastrointestinal. B. anthracis spores can live in the soil for many years, and humans can become infected with anthrax by handling products from infected animals or by inhaling anthrax spores from contaminated animal products or aerosolized release of anthrax spores. Anthrax can also be spread by eating undercooked meat from infected animals. It is rare to find infected animals in the United States.

For more questions and answers about research and science issues concerning macular degeneration, please visit the Real Life Questions section of our web site.

The World Health Organization has estimated that a bird flu pandemic could take the lives of up to 7,400,000 people. It is however believed that the actual figure could far surpass this amount.

BSE was first observed in Great Britain in April 1985 and was officially diagnosed in 1986. By June 1990, some 14,000 cases were confirmed (out of an estimated population of 10 million cattle) in Great Britain. Since 1986, more than 185,000 cases of BSE have been confirmed in Great Britain. The epidemic peaked in 1992-93 at almost 1,000 new cases per week. Control measures have since reduced incidence of the disease, and currently fewer than 100 new cases are reported per week.

Fistula occurs when emergency obstetric care is not available to women who develop complications during childbirth. This is why women living in remote rural areas with little access to medical care are at risk. Before the medical advances of the 20th Century, fistula was quite common in Europe and the United States. Today, fistula is almost unheard of in high-income countries, or in countries where obstetric care is widely available.

In 2007, there are approximately 2 million people with limb loss in the United States (excluding fingers and toes). There are more than 185,000 new amputations preformed each year in this country. The prevalence rate in 1996 was 4.9 per 1,000 persons. The incidence rate was 46.2 per 100,000 persons with dysvascular disease, 5.86 per 100,000 persons secondary to trauma, 0.35 per 100,000 secondary to malignancy of a bone or joint. The birth prevalence of congenital limb deficiency in 1996 was 25.

Reproductive cloning involves removing all the DNA from a female egg, and the injection of DNA from an adult body cell (e.g. a skin cell). The cloning technique is called nuclear transfer, and is very similar to ICSI (intra cytoplasmic sperm injection) a procedure members of International Cloning Consortium have performed numerous times.

Sound enters your ears in sound waves. These sound waves hit your eardrum and are converted to pressure changes in the inner ear. This causes special nerves to impulse, which are read by your brain as sound. When these nerves are exposed to a surplus of pressure changes, they may become damaged. You may have noticed that if you listen to loud music for several hours that your ears "ring." This is a Temporary Threshold Shift, or a temporary reduction in hearing.

Withdrawal occurs when an opiate-addicted individual stops taking opioids. Withdrawal can begin in as little as a few hours after the last dose, but typically starts 12-24 hours after the last dose. A lot of times it begins with sweating, yawning, a runny nose and "teary"-eyes.

Conception, or fertilization, occurs when the male's sperm meets with the woman's ovum (egg) and successfully penetrates it. This typically takes place in one of the woman's fallopian tubes and the fertilized egg then travels to the uterus and implants in the uterine lining. For pregnancy to take place, fertilization of the egg must be followed by a successful implantation. Only one egg is released for fertilization in each menstrual cycle.