Within hours of inhaling the contaminated air, a victim experiences choking and coughing fits, as well as unusually high fevers. Ninety percent of those affected will not survive the attack. Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis . Anthrax most commonly occurs in warm-blooded animals, but can also infect man. When inhaled by humans, these particles cause respiratory failure and death within a week.
Anthrax is most common in agricultural regions where it occurs in animals.
These include South and Central America, Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. When anthrax affects humans, it is usually due to an occupational exposure to infected animals or their by products. Left for two hours at a temperature of twenty degrees centigrade, the bacteria of anthrax turn into spores - virtually indestructible organisms which can lie dormant for years, waiting to infect any living tissue which it comes into contact with. After cultivating the spores and once mastered, could be harnessed for mass-production.