Emerging Themes in Anthrax

Dear Colleagues,

Anthrax is an important infectious disease, mainly affecting ruminants (domestic and wild animals) and can be transmitted to humans exposed to infected animals or infected products of animal origin. The etiological agent of anthrax is Bacillus anthracis, a Gram-positive rod-shaped bacterium that is capable of producing extremely resistant spores that, under unfavorable environmental conditions, can survive in the environment for several decades. In receptive animals (in particular, cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats, deer, and other wild ungulates), anthrax develops without apparent symptoms but has a fatal outcome, characterized by sudden death due to acute or hyperacute septicemia and leakage of uncoagulated blood from natural openings.

In humans, anthrax can occur in three different forms with clinical signs dependent on the penetration route of the pathogen: cutaneous, pulmonary, and gastrointestinal. Moreover, another fatal form has been described in drug users occurring after the intravenous injection of drugs contaminated with anthrax spores. B. anthracis lives most of its existence in the form of spores in soils, until ideal conditions develop, allowing it to enter the reproductive cycle, which is presented mainly in domestic and wild ruminants. Furthermore, B. anthracis is considered one of the most important agents of bioterrorism. Because of its characteristics, it can be potentially misused as a biological weapon.

New molecular and genomic tools can help to improve our understanding of the disease’s epidemiology and the pathogen’s biology.

In this Special Issue, we aim to both summarize current knowledge and explore emerging themes and developments in our understanding of the pathogen and of the disease. We, thus, invite the submission of research and review articles that cover any aspect of the bacteriology, epidemiology, molecular biology, genomics, immunology, pathogenesis, vaccine development, new decontaminants or diagnostics of anthrax. We look forward to your contributions.

Dr. Antonio Fasanella
Dr. Domenico Galante
Guest Editors

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