Climate change, and the resulting global warming, has led to the melting of glaciers in various parts of the world. In Siberia—specifically in the Yamal-Nenets and Taymyr peninsulas, which were among the hardest-hit areas—anomalous heat occurred in the summer of 2016, with temperatures reaching 35°C. This heat caused the frozen ground to thaw; as the "Siberian permafrost"—soil and sediment that remains below 0°C for years, reaching depths of up to 1,500 meters in Siberia—melted, the carcass of a reindeer was exposed, containing anthrax spores that had remained frozen for decades.
Consequently, as the permafrost thawed due to global warming, *Bacillus anthracis* spores—which can survive in ice for centuries while remaining lethal—were released. They spread into aquifers, contaminated the soil, infected dozens of people, and caused the deaths of over 2,300 reindeer.
*Bacillus anthracis* is exceptionally lethal because it has the ability to form a protective shell—a spore—around itself when faced with unfavorable conditions. These microscopic spores are highly resilient; they neither respire nor feed, allowing them to remain viable for decades.
Anthrax can manifest as a cutaneous, inhalation or gastrointestinal disease. It is also worth noting cases among drug users, where infections resulting from injections into deep soft tissues have led to hemorrhagic meningitis and septic shock. In the bloodstream, *Bacillus anthracis* tends to multiply, producing lethal toxins that cause massive internal hemorrhaging, ultimately leading to respiratory failure and septic shock.
To understand the danger posed by anthrax, one can look to the 1979 anthrax outbreak—often referred to as a “Biological Chernobyl." Soviet authorities initially denied the event, attributing it instead to the consumption of tainted meat, in an effort to avoid admitting a violation of the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention.
On April 2, 1979, the most severe anthrax outbreak occurred in the USSR—specifically in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), the site of the secret military laboratory known as "Compound 19." A technical error led to the release of an anthrax cloud, which was carried by the wind and spread over a distance of several kilometers. Between 66 and 68 people died from pulmonary (inhalation) anthrax; the cloud also infected workers at a nearby ceramics factory, as well as livestock in surrounding towns.
Streets and rooftops were washed down—an ineffective measure that actually caused the spores remaining on the ground to become airborne, leading to further dispersal. It was not until about 13 years after the Sverdlovsk incident that the outbreak was officially acknowledged; it remains the most serious instance of inhalation anthrax in human history.
Furthermore, scientific studies conducted near Fairbanks, Alaska, suggest that microorganisms trapped in glaciers for approximately 40,000 years can reactivate and proliferate when exposed to summer temperatures.
Between 1941 and 1942, Great Britain also conducted experiments involving anthrax on several Scottish islands. Forty years later (in 1982), the island of Gruinard remained heavily contaminated. Despite all attempts to decontaminate the island, the spores resulting from this experiment necessitated a quarantine that lasted 48 years, until 1990. In 1986, a specialized firm was paid half a million pounds to decontaminate the island—which spans 520 acres (approximately 210 hectares)—by spreading 280 tons of formaldehyde, diluted in 2,000 tons of seawater, across the land.
Today, according to Graham Pearson, if someone were to release anthrax bacteria into the atmosphere near a city of 500,000 inhabitants, it could cause the deaths of over 90,000 people within a week.
In 2001, in the United States, letters containing anthrax powder caused 5 deaths, with 17 individuals infected via inhalation—the most severe form of the disease.
The CDC (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta) classifies anthrax as a Category A biological agent due to its high level of virulence.
THERAPY
Prevention is achieved through the oral administration of ciprofloxacin or doxycycline to kill the spores; this regimen lasts for 10 days, as is the case for cutaneous anthrax.
In the event of suspected inhalation of spores—or in the case of a bioterrorist attack—treatment must be continued for 60 days.
Treatment for systemic and pulmonary forms of anthrax must be initiated immediately. Because the primary damage is caused by both bacterial replication and the release of toxins, current international guidelines recommend a three-pronged approach: broad-spectrum antibiotics, anti-toxin monoclonal antibodies, and intensive supportive care (as per the CDC).
Consequently, in cases where anthrax has entered the bloodstream and spread to the lungs, a multi-drug regimen is employed. This includes a bactericidal agent—such as ciprofloxacin or doxycycline—combined with clindamycin or other protein synthesis inhibitors, which serve to block the production of new toxins. Additionally, monoclonal antibodies—specifically Raxibacumab or obiltoxaximab—are administered to neutralize the lethal effects of the disease.
The anthrax vaccine is not available to the general public; it is reserved exclusively for specific high-risk groups, such as researchers, laboratory technicians, and veterinarians.
