@article{7f266142ff7349ad8f1965865470f6c2,
title = "Physiological responses to a single low‐dose of bacillus anthracis spores in the rabbit model of inhalational anthrax",
abstract = "Credible dose–response relationships are needed to more accurately assess the risk posed by exposure to low‐level Bacillus anthracis contamination during or following a release. To begin to fill this knowledge gap, New Zealand White rabbits were implanted with D70‐PCT telemetry transmitters and subsequently aerosol challenged with average inhaled doses of 2.86 x 102 to 2.75 x 105 colony forming units (CFU) of B. anthracis spores. Rabbits exposed to a single inhaled dose at or above 2.54 × 104 CFU succumbed with dose‐dependent time to death. Death was associated with increases above baseline in heart rate, respiration rate, and body temperature and all rabbits that died exhibited bacteremia at some point prior to death. Rabbits that inhaled doses of 2.06 × 103 CFU or lower survived to the end of the study and showed no or minimal adverse changes in the measured physiological responses in response to the challenge. Moreover, no bacteremia nor toxemia were observed in rabbits that survived to the end of the study. Overall, the data indicate that challenge doses of B. anthracis below the level sufficient to establish systemic infection do not produce observable physiological responses; however, doses that triggered a response resulted in death.",
keywords = "Anthrax, Bacillus anthracis, Dose–response, Low‐dose, Physiological response",
author = "Taft, {Sarah C.} and Nichols, {Tonya L.} and Hines, {Stephanie A.} and Barnewall, {Roy E.} and Stark, {Gregory V.} and Comer, {Jason E.}",
note = "Funding Information: Funding: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency through the Office of Research and Development co‐ funded and managed the research described herein under Interagency Agreement DW9792208901 and Contract Number EP‐C‐14‐001 to ICF International, under Battelle contract 13KJBO0004 Task Orders WA 1‐40, WA 2‐40, and WA 3‐40. The Department of Defense through the Defense Threat Reduction Agency co‐funded this research under project numbers BA06TAS022 and CBS.PHYSIO.01.SW.005. It has been subjected to the Agencies{\textquoteright} administrative review and approved for publication. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Agencies. Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use. Funding Information: The authors gratefully acknowledge the permission granted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to use their PA enzyme?linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) reagents, which were developed by Battelle for use in a previous NIH study. The authors would also like thank Alex Hoffmaster and Laura Rose of the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC) for irradiating the spores used in this work. The authors are also grateful for the thoughtful and thorough reviews provided by Dr. Harry Stone (Battelle), Dr. M. Worth Calfee (U.S. EPA, National Homeland Security Research Center), and Dr. Harlal Choudhury (U.S. EPA, National Center for Environmental Assessment). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.",
year = "2020",
month = jun,
doi = "10.3390/pathogens9060461",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "9",
pages = "1--16",
journal = "Pathogens",
issn = "2076-0817",
publisher = "MDPI AG",
number = "6",
}