Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming gram positive, aerobic bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax most commonly occurs in wild and domestic lower vertebrates (cattle, sheep, goats, camels, antelopes, and other herbivores), but it can also occur in humans when they are exposed to infected animals or tissue from infected animals. The disease is initiated by the entry of spores into the host body. This can occur via a minor abrasion, via an insect bite, by eating contaminated meat or inhaling airborne spores. When the bacterium is inhaled, its spores are surrounded by alveolar macrophages in the lung, the beginning stage of normal immune response. But instead of succumbing to the defensive assault, they survive and germinate within [...]