Tommy Grgic, age 10, of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for his question:

WHAT IS ANTHRAX?

Anthrax is a severe infectious disease of both man and many animals. It is caused by a bacterium and often starts as a carbuncle on the skin. The germs may also be inhaled and infect the lungs.

Historians believe that anthrax was the Fifth Plague of Egypt mentioned in the Bible. The anthrax bacterium was first seen by scientist Casimir Davaine in 1850, and in 1876 German physician Robert Koch established that it caused anthrax. It then became the first germ known to cause disease and helped prove Koch’s germ theory. A few years later Louis Pasteur developed an anthrax vaccine.

Persons commonly infected by the disease are butchers, farmers, sheepherders and wool handlers.