# Is There a Anecdote for Anthrax? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 5, 2001, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581 "2001-10-05T14:38:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wildest\_Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/1 "2001-10-05T14:38:34Z")
If yes, how much is there. Is there enought to say help a average size city? If not, how long does it take to produce it? And should the Gov’t start producing it now? Man, I could deal with Nuclear explosion type death(if it is quick) but suffering through biological weapons scare me to death. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/2 "2001-10-05T14:41:08Z")
Might you mean “antidote”? D 'ohp! ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/3 "2001-10-05T14:41:38Z")
Well, I’ll try to help. _One day, a guy I heard of got anthrax. Luckily, he caught it in time, took some antibiotics, and got better. Another guy I heard of didn’t catch it time and died. Antibiotics cure anthrax effectively if caught early._ Hope that helps. - Rick ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/4 "2001-10-05T14:41:55Z")
Yes, actually. I was working at a concert once, and the lead singer of Anthrax tried to hit on me. Unfortunately, Rammstein was playing the same concert, so his advances were futile. When he saw me staring at Till across the way, the lead singer of Anthrax said: “Why do you like those guys? I hear they’re all gay” It was such a typical, nervous, upset guy comment. I had to laugh. or do you mean an ANTIDOTE? jarbaby ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/5 "2001-10-05T14:44:35Z")
Whadda you think, jar… did he mean antidope? Apparently there’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/6 "2001-10-05T14:46:19Z")
Two anthrax viri walk into a bar… ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/7 "2001-10-05T14:46:20Z")
An anecdote for anthrax? Sure, here ya go: So there I was, walking down the street, when suddenly I bumped into this virus. “Hey, aren’t you Anthrax?” I said. “I prefer to be called ‘Annie’,” it said… Oh wait, you meant “antidote”. Off the top of my head, I believe that there is treatment for it, but the type you take in through your lungs is much worse than the type you catch through other means. And in conclusion: HYTG?\* [sub]\*Have You Tried Google?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/8 "2001-10-05T14:54:01Z")
This is from an imperfect memory, so cut me some slack if if I am slightly off the mark. First off, I doubt anthrax could be used for a large size city. To catch it, someone has to breath in a large number of spores and it is _not_ able to be transmitted person to person. It is conceivable that a crop duster could fly over a sporting event and infect a large number of people, however, the disease just wouldn’t spread from there. It doesn’t like humans all that much. The vaccine could be administered within 48 hours to prevent onset of symptoms of after that it is useless. Flu like symptoms should start in about a week and the disease can be controlled if antibiotics are given within about a week and a half of exposure. The government does have large stockpiles of both, but the logistics of distrubution could be a problem. After two weeks, you’re pretty much screwed. Death is caused by respiratory failure. Mortality rate is about 40% and many of those who survive have severe scaring and/or blindness. ---
**Author:** ![lucwarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@lucwarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lucwarm)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/9 "2001-10-05T14:54:32Z")
I like the way you asked a question that’s been beaten to death, but with a glaring error that’s sure to be noticed. The only problem I see is that the error is more likely to amuse people than inflame them. For that, I can give you only 6.0 on the troll-o-meter. |-----x----| ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/10 "2001-10-05T14:56:43Z")
I must say luc, that WB is a lot of things, but he isn’t a troll ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/11 "2001-10-05T14:57:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jr8 \* > \*_And in conclusion: HYTG?_ > > [sub]\*Have You Tried Google?[/sub] \*\* Thanks for the clarification. I’d assumed you’d meant Have Your Testicles, Gump? ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/12 "2001-10-05T15:07:21Z")
Ah, the dilemma, the dilemma: [list=A] [li]Should one repond to the OP **Wildest Bill** _intends?_[/li][li]Or the one he actually wrote?[/li][/list=A] The first is more in the spirit of this forum. The second is much more fun. I’ll do both, yet in each case still try to adhere to the spirit of GD: [list=A] [li][Yes.](http://www.google.com/search?q=anthrax+antidote&hl=xx-bork&lr=lang_en%7Clang_fr%7Clang_de)[/li][li]Here’s one: Did you know anthrax is a bacterium, not a virus?[/li][/list=A] ---
**Author:** ![DAVEW0071](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e19b73/32.png) [@DAVEW0071](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DAVEW0071)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/13 "2001-10-05T15:13:39Z")
But I’d like to know if there’s an antidote for Anthrax (the band)? ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/14 "2001-10-05T15:15:42Z")
Yes, I believe it’s Air Supply ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/15 "2001-10-05T15:16:49Z")
I have a friend from Michigan, who had once lived in the same city where they make the anthrax vaccine. He told me–and he was really serious about this–that if there were ever an anthrax outbreak in the facility, there were “orders” that the entire complex was to be sealed shut, and not re-opened until authorities were sure that everyone had had enough time _to starve to death_. I thought he was full of it, but I didn’t argue with him. Musta watched “Andromeda Strain” too many times as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Wildest\_Bill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Wildest\_Bill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wildest_Bill)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/16 "2001-10-05T15:20:39Z")
You know what is so bad. I actually looked up the word for the spelling so I wouldn’t get something wrong like this. And I found it the way I thought in my mind it was spelled(that’s why I hate looking up words in the dictionary I mean if you don’t know how to spell it, how can you use spelling to look it up) But I didn’t bother to look at the definition to make sure it was the right word. Stupid English language with dual meaning sounding words. So have fun with it I deserve it. ::wildest bill walking off muttering to himself look at the definition look at the definition look at the definition:: ---
**Author:** ![armedmonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/17 "2001-10-05T15:21:51Z")
I knew my memory was imperfect, but sheesh. Allow me to correct myself. Immunization after exposure might not do anything. Antibiotics must be administered _before_ symptoms appear. Anthrax has a _90%_ mortality rate. Here is a good article: [http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/news\_feature.html](http://atlanta.creativeloafing.com/news_feature.html) ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/18 "2001-10-05T16:18:42Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Fiver \* > Here’s one: Did you know anthrax is a bacterium, not a virus?_\* OK, OK, fine! Two anthrax _bacteria_ walk into a bar. You happy now? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![labradorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@labradorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labradorian)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/19 "2001-10-05T16:31:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jr8 \* > \*\*An anecdote for anthrax? Sure, here ya go: > > And in conclusion: HYTG?\* > > [sub]\*Have You Tried Google?[/sub] \*\* Every new internet account ought to come with little wristbands made that read “WWGS?”\* Not that I’m accusing the OP-er of being a newbie, of course. [sub]\*What Would Google Say?[/sub] \*\* [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![Mersavets](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aca169/32.png) [@Mersavets](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mersavets)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2001, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581/20 "2001-10-05T17:44:25Z")
**Wildest Bill** is one of the few people who I know of only through the internet that I would really like to meet. There’s not much else I can say really.t [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-anecdote-for-anthrax/85581.md?page=2)