BBC Earth
Image: NASA Goddard Photo and Video
Siberia has become the scene of an anthrax outbreak. Reportedly, a region of permafrost melted in a heatwave, exposing an infected reindeer carcass.
Anthrax has a reputation as a bioweapon, particularly after the infamous 2001 anthrax attacks in the US. But the disease has a surprisingly long history.
Ancient Chinese texts document anthrax-like outbreaks 5,000 years ago. The Roman poet Virgil described an anthrax-like plague in First Century BC Europe that “raged through an animal’s veins and shrivelled its flesh” before “virtually dissolv[ing] the bones”.
Some historians think the disease was present in pharaonic Egypt, and it may have been behind the fifth of the ten plagues. As the Bible puts it: “Behold, the hand of the Lord is upon thy cattle which is in the field, upon the horses, upon the asses, upon the camels, upon the oxen, and upon the sheep: there shall be a very grievous murrain [plague].”
But it is actually strange that so many regions of the world experienced anthrax problems in antiquity. Anthrax kills within days, so infected animals fall ill before they can travel far from the source, and this means anthrax should remain localised.
Somehow, a disease that is intrinsically unfit for international travel became a globetrotter thousands of years ago – and there is a good chance humanity is, inadvertently, to blame. Read more on the BBC Earth website…
