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Forum index » Archive » Archive: General » ARG: Acheron

Research: Sverdlovsk - anthrax

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MageSteff
Pretty talky there aintcha, Talky?

Joined: 06 Jun 2003
Posts: 2716
Location: State of Denial

Research: Sverdlovsk - anthrax

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=18726 PCR analysis of tissue samples from the 1979 Sverdlovsk anthrax victims: The presence of multiple Bacillus anthracis strains in different victims

The majority of this paper is only useful to people interested primarily in microbiology, as it describes methods used; however, one section does stand out:

Quote:

PCR analysis using primers that detect the vrrA gene variable region on the B. anthracis chromosome demonstrated that at least four of the five known strain categories defined by this region were present in the tissue samples. Only one category is found in a single B. anthracis strain.

What this means:
In nature, if this was a natural occurance of eating tainted meat a originally offered as an explanation... there would only be one strain of anthrax present. At least four of the five known strains were present.

In a research lab, they may have more than one strain stored to do research on, but they are kept separate, each strain is cultured and tested separately, because of variations between the strains that might skew the results and produce numbers that are not easily reproducible. So each strain is tested separately, and the results compared.

I'll leave you to draw your own conclusion from that.

_________________
Magesteff
A small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. - Margaret Mead

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2003 2:20 am

dmax
Unfictologist

Joined: 09 Jan 2003
Posts: 1387
Location: Location: Location!

Or, you can read this portion of the conclusion from the same article:

Quote:

The PCR results presented are not quantitative so it is impossible to determine relative amounts of the different strains present in the samples.

Only a single category was found in formalin-fixed tissues and cultures from two bovine victims of a natural anthrax outbreak in the United States. Analysis of anthrax bovine and wood bison victims collected over 30 years in Canada showed no variability at the vrrA locus. Collectively, this suggests that it is unlikely VNTR categories change frequently during the infection process or that more than one VNTR category is represented in a natural infection.

Four of the five known VNTR categories are represented in the Sverdlovsk victims' tissues.

The simplest explanation for this is that the presence of multiple VNTR categories indicates that victims were exposed to a mixture of different B. anthracis strains. The strains could come from two possible sources, vaccination or inhalation. One of the authors present during the outbreak believes that only one of the victims analyzed in this study was vaccinated and several of the victims succumbed to the disease before the vaccination program was initiated.

What an interesting situation...

_________________
That sounds like something HITLER would say!

Posted: Tue Dec 02, 2003 2:47 am

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