Bacillus anthracis

Bacillus anthracis

B. anthracis, the causative agent of anthrax, has a worldwidedistribution. Anthrax is caused by inhalation, skin exposure, or by gastrointestinal (GI) absorption. Use of anthrax as a bio-logical warfare agent is an additional concern now. B. anthra-cis is of considerable historical interest due to the followingreasons:

1.        It was the first pathogenic bacterium to be seen under microscope.

2.        It was the first bacterium shown to be the cause of a dis-ease. It was from studies on anthrax that Koch established his famous postulates in 1876. In 1877, Robert Koch grew the organism in pure culture, demonstrated its ability to form endospores, and produced experimental anthrax by injecting it into animals.

3.        It was the first bacterium to be isolated in pure culture and shown to possess spores. For the first time, spores were discovered from B. anthracis and Bacillus subtilis by Koch and Cohn and they established the germ theory of disease.

4.        It was the first bacterium used for the preparation of attenuated vaccine by Louis Pasteur.