Drought could be a factor in US anthrax cases

Anthrax has killed more than 100 animals on ranches in Colorado and Texas within the past two weeks, and experts say the risk of infection may be greater with drought covering much of the United States. Anthrax outbreaks happen occasionally in livestock herds and wild animals in the U.S., usually west of the Mississippi River. Animals typically contract the disease by ingesting or inhaling spores that can survive in soil for decades. Once infected, livestock can die within hours. Anthrax bacteria react to drought and other harsh conditions by producing more spores, and scientists said conditions are ripe for disease this year. A drought stretches from Ohio west to California and from Texas north to the Dakotas. Many places also have been burned by unusually long stretches of triple-digit temperatures. "My concern is that if we have more and more drought, if drought frequencies go up, we will see greater frequencies of these outbreaks," said Mary Stromberger, associate professor of soil microbiology at Colorado State University. More than 60 cows on three Colorado ranches and nearly 50 sheep from a Texas herd have died so far. Anthrax experts and veterinarians warned ranchers to watch their herds for sudden deaths, the usual sign of an anthrax infection. Entire herds can be decimated by an outbreak if animals are not quickly vaccinated...more