LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Anthrax: Spores
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Anthrax (B anthracis) is a large, spore-forming, gram-positive rod. Persistence of spores is aided by nitrogen and organic soil content, environmental pH greater than 6, and ambient temperature greater than 15°C. Drought or rainfall can trigger anthrax spore germination, while flies and vultures spread the spores.
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Anthrax exists in soil as a spore. Under certain condition, the anthrax spore can remain viable in soil for decades. After conducting open-air anthrax weapons research on Gruinard Island in Scotland in 1941, the British government banned human entry for over fifty years.
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Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax most commonly occurs in wild and domestic livestock (such as cattle, sheep, and goats), but infections can occur in humans as well. In the fall of 2001, an outbreak of cutaneous and inhalational anthrax in New York City, New Jersey, the Washington, D.C. area, and Florida resulted from a still unsolved act of bioterrorism involving letters intentionally contaminated with anthrax spores.
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Anthrax spores are killed by boiling (100oC or 212oF) for 30 minutes (the actual reported time is considerably less). If boiling as a means of disinfection, the spores must be in liquid suspension to ensure killing, and in a sealed container to avoid aerosolization or vaporization of droplet nuclei containing spores.
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Anthrax is caused by Bacillus anthracis, a bacterium that lives naturally in certain types of soil. The bacterium produces spores. Spores are hardy forms of the bacterium that can survive in soil or on contaminated objects for years.
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Anthrax is usually spread in the form of a spore. (A spore is a dormant form that certain bacteria take when they have no food supply. Spores can grow and cause disease when better conditions are present, as in the human body.) Anthrax is generally spread in one of three ways. Most persons who are exposed to anthrax become ill within one week:
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