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Epidemiology

Anthrax is caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Bacillus anthracis is derived from the Greek word, anthrakis, which translates into "coal" because it causes dark, coal-like eschars on affected areas (6). Anthrax is most common in South and Central America, Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East (8).

Anthrax has a long history

• Anthrax is believed to be the fifth Egyptian plague, dating back to around 1500 BCE
• There have been recorded cases of anthrax in ancient Rome
• Anthrax is considered to be the first "germ" discovered to cause disease in humans
• Bacillus anthracis was used as the model for Koch's postulates 
• In 1881, in a famous experiement, Louis Pasteur vaccinated some sheep with a live attenuated version of anthrax. He then challenged vaccinated and unvaccinated with a virulent culture. All the vaccinated survived while the unvaccinated did not.
• Louis Pasteur also used a live attenuated anthrax strain to develop the first anthrax vaccine for use in humans
• Metchnikoff used anthrax to examine the ability of macrophages to kill microbes (7).