Epidemiologic Data on Biologic Agents of Greatest Concern
Agent |
Microbiology |
Incubation |
Natural Routes of Transmission |
Precautions |
Case Fatality Rate |
Anthrax/ Bacillus anthracis | Spore – forming |
Average, 1– 7 days Range, 1– 60 days |
Inhalation or ingestion of spores, cutaneous contact with infected animal byproducts, including meat, hide, hair, and bone meal. Person-to-person transmission is rare. | Standard, but use contact precautions if cutaneous or if associated with diarrhea | Cutaneous: Treated, <1% Untreated, 10 – 20%; Inhalational: Treated, >= 40%; Untreated, 97% GI: Treated, <= 40% |
Plague/Yersinia pestis | Gram-negative rod | 1– 7 days | Bubonic: bites from infected fleas and handling of infected tissues Pneumonic: aerosol person-to-person transmission | Standard. Use droplet precautions until patient is on appropriate therapy for 72 hours. Contact precautions if draining buboes present | Bubonic:Untreated, 50 – 60% Pneumonic: Untreated, unlikely to survive |
Smallpox/ variola virus | Orthopox virus | 1–1 7 days | Aerosol person-to-person transmission with 50% secondary attack rate | Standard, contact, and airborne | Among unvaccinated persons, 20 – 40% |
Botulism/ Clostridium botulinum toxin | Neurotoxin produced by anaerobic Gram-positive rod | Average, 12– 36 hours Range, 1– 7 days |
Ingestion of preformed toxin | Standard | Treated, 5 –10% |
Tularemia / Francisella tularensis | Gram-negative rod | Average, 3 – 5 days Range, 1– 14 days |
Tick bites, handling infected animal byproducts such as meat or hides, eating insufficiently cooked meats, drinking contaminated water, inhaling contaminated soil | Standard; contact precautions if lesions present | Inhalational:Untreated, 30 – 60% |
Hemorrhagic Fevers/eg, Ebola and Marburg viruses | Filoviruses and Arenaviruses | Average, 5 – 10 days Range, 2 – 19 days |
Contact with body fluids of infected persons | Standard and contact; airborne precautions in late stages | Untreated, 50 – 90% |
For more information about biologic agents and training, visit: www.bt.cdc.gov/training/index.asp#ph
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