Question

A 35-year-old male presented to a London hospital complaining of difficulty breathing. His symptoms progressed quickly, and he was transferred to the hospital’s intensive treatment unit suffering from respiratory failure, which soon progressed to multiple organ failure. A blood culture revealed gram-positive, encapsulated, nonmotile rods preliminarily identified as Bacillus anthracis. This is the bacterium that causes the disease anthrax, and it has the ability to survive for long periods of time without water or nutrition. The presence of B. anthracis was later confirmed by the Novel and Dangerous Pathogens Division of Britain’s Health Protection Agency.

- What characteristic of B. anthracis allows the bacterium to survive without water or nutrition?

- Where is B. anthracis found?

No photocopy answer and it should be at least 5 sentences at minimum.

Answer 1

A.

Bacillus anthracis is the common organism of anthrax.

When Bacillus anthracis is going through an unfavorable condition, this has the capability to form a thick and strong layer outside the cell, this is called a spore. Inside the spore, Bacillus anthracis goes to a vegetative or dormant state.

In this stage, the Bacillus anthracis suspend all the physical functions until the condition is favorable to live. This is the characteristic of B. anthracis that allows the bacterium to survive without water or nutrition.

B.

Bacillus anthracis causes disease in live stocks, the bacteria is normally found in the faces of livestock and in contaminated soil.