Anthrax

Written by Dr Dan Rutherford, GP

What is the risk of deliberate anthrax exposure?

This is difficult to quantify but anthrax has many disadvantages as a biological warfare agent. It is very difficult to manufacture a form that could be distributed to a large number of people with the intention to cause widespread infection.

The recent suspicion of terrorist distribution of anthrax in the US reinforces the need for the public to be wary of suspicious packages arriving through the post, yet it is unlikely that even a deliberately contaminated package would have much chance of causing the illness in someone who opened it.

The present advice to the UK public who receive any suspicious package is not to open it, but to contact the police for further advice.

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