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TEXT 1: ANTHRAX
What is anthrax?
Anthrax is a bacterial disease that affects grazing animals around the world.
The rod-shaped Bacillus anthracis forms tough spores that sit dormant in the soil
until an animal swallows or inhales them.
What does it do to humans?
The skin or cutaneous form of the disease is nasty, but rarely fatal.
Inhaling 10,000 or so spores can lead to more serious respiratory anthrax.
Ho do you know if youre infected?
The incubation period ranges from two days to two months. For respiratory anthrax,
the earliest symptoms are flu-like: fever, headache and muscle pains. By the time
coughing, painful breathing and tell-tale enlargement of the space under the
breastbone permits a doctor to diagnose anthrax, it is usually too late.
Why does it kill?
The spores invade macrophages, immune cells that normally kill bacteria.
Once inside one, they shed their shells, multiply explosively and swarm out into the
bloodstream. They keep dividing and producing toxins.
Why is anthrax used as a bioweapon?
Its tough enough to survive delivery via bombs or shells, easy to grow and has a
long shelf life: spores seized from a First World War German spy in Norway were
revived after 80 years. And because its not contagious, weapons dont create an
epidemic that rebounds on the attacker.
(Modified from New Scientist: 27 October 2001: 5)
Anthrax
ORIENTATION
Are all bacteria bad?
Can you think of good bacteria?
LANGUAGE FOCUS
1.
The word bioweapon is often used in the passage. The prefix bio is used to
combine with the word weapon. What is the meaning of bio?
(a)
(b)
(c)
Identify other words in the text that use the prefix bio?
Think of other words that begin with the prefix bio?
Create a new word that begins with bio.
2.
3.
Compound words like rod-shaped and bloodstream are used in the text.
Look for other examples of compound words in the text.
Do you know how compound words are formed and how the meaning is
affected?
CONTENT FOCUS
1.
2.
3.
4.
Anthrax is a virus.
(ii)
(iii) The anthrax spores attach themselves to the lungs of human beings.
(iv) An anthrax victim will detect a swelling below his ribs
in the early part of the attack.
(v)
5.
Anthrax
FOLLOW-UP
1. Imagine you are a scientist and you have been instructed to develop an antibiotic
to counteract the anthrax bacteria. What would you expect your antibiotic to be
able to do?