Anthrax and the Geochemistry of Soils in the Contiguous  United States

Griffin, Dale W.; Silvestri, Erin; Bowling, Charlena Yoder; Boe, Timothy; Smith, David B.; Nichols, Tonya

doi:10.3390/geosciences4030114

Cited by 16 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Furthermore, 1-km grid soil type and soil pH data obtained from the ISRIC African soil database were also included; soil pH was included as a predictor variable because it has been shown that epidemics of anthrax are associated with an alkaline pH (Dragon and Rennie, 1995). Soil type as a categorical variable was also included in the model, because the influence of soil type on B. anthracis spores persistence is ecologically documented and it is speculated that there is a significant relationship between the soil type and the extensive presence of anthrax outbreaks in certain areas (Griffin et al, 2014).…”

Section: Environmental Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological niche modeling as a tool for prediction of the potential geographic distribution of Bacillus anthracis spores in Tanzania

Mwakapeje

Ndimuligo

Mosomtai

et al. 2019

International Journal of Infectious Diseases

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Introduction: Anthrax is caused by the spore-forming, Gram-positive bacterium Bacillus anthracis. The aim of this study was to predict the potential distribution of B. anthracis in Tanzania and produce epidemiological evidence for the management of anthrax outbreaks in the country. Methods: The Maxent algorithm was used to predict areas at risk of anthrax outbreaks based on the occurrence and environmental data in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions; the model was later transferred to predict the entire country. Seventy percent of the occurrence data were used to train the model, while 30% were used for model evaluation. Results: Four regions of northern Tanzania are predicted to have a high risk for anthrax outbreaks, while the southern and western regions had low-risk areas. Soil type (56.5%), soil pH (23.7%), and isothermally (10.4%) were the most important variables for the model prediction, and the most significant soil types were solonetz, fluvisols, and lithosols. Conclusions: A strong risk level across districts of the Tanzania mainland was identified in this study. A total of 18 districts in Tanzania Mainland are predicted to be at very high risk of an anthrax outbreak occurrence. These findings are important for policymakers to effectively mount targeted control measures for anthrax outbreaks in Tanzania.

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Section: Environmental Covariatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ecological niche modeling as a tool for prediction of the potential geographic distribution of Bacillus anthracis spores in Tanzania

Mwakapeje

Ndimuligo

Mosomtai

et al. 2019

International Journal of Infectious Diseases

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“…In this setup, anthrax outbreaks have been reported in livestock butnone in wildlife in adjacent Hwange NP up to 2018. This suggests that either the disease was occurring in Hwange NP wildlife but being missed due to sub-optimal surveillance [ 40 ] as ascertained by the principal researcher on area visit (September, 2015), or that it was truly absent due to environmental influences [ 41 , 42 ]. Even though Chikerema et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The pattern of anthrax at the wildlife-livestock-human interface in Zimbabwe

Mukarati¹,

Matope²,

Garine‐Wichatitsky³

et al. 2020

PLoS Negl Trop Dis

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Anthrax is an important but neglected zoonosis in southern Africa and elsewhere which occurs naturally in herbivorous wildlife and livestock. Fatal outbreaks in animals are spaced by potentially extended periods of non-activity during which the bacterium is maintained in soil. The ecology of the pathogen in the multi-host system and the environment is still not fully understood. This study investigated the patterns of anthrax in Zimbabwe in order to better understand the occurrence of disease in susceptible wildlife and livestock and hence its control. The study used available data in governmental reports between 1995 and 2018 and structured interviewer-administered questionnaires of local communities in three porous wildlife-livestock-human interface sites where livestock/wildlife interactions were documented from previous researches. Two non-interface sites were also included for comparison based on known previous anthrax outbreaks. Respondents from non-interface sites had significantly higher odds (χ 2 = 23.2, OR = 3.5, 2.1

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“…The causative agent of the disease, Bacillus anthracis, is a soil-borne bacterium with a remarkable ability to survive in the environment for long periods of time (Hugh-Jones & Blackburn, 2009). Studies have shown that the geographic distribution of the bacterium is limited by a combination of environmental characteristics including soil pH, several soil minerals, soil moisture, and temperature (Blackburn, McNyset, Curtis, & Hugh-Jones, 2007;Griffin, Petrosky, Morman, & Luna, 2009;Griffin et al, 2014;Hugh-Jones & Blackburn, 2009;Kracalik et al, 2012;Smith et al, 2000). Human transmission of anthrax is generally a direct result of coming into contact with infected animals or contaminated materials, hence control of the disease in humans is dependent upon targeting control efforts in animals.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%