title: Bacillus anthracis, Francisella tularensis and Yersinia pestis. The most important bacterial warfare agents - review.
abstract: There are three most important bacterial causative agents of serious infections that could be misused for warfare purposes: Bacillus anthracis (the causative agent of anthrax) is the most frequently mentioned one; however, Fracisella tularensis (causing tularemia) and Yersinia pestis (the causative agent of plague) are further bacterial agents enlisted by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention into the category A of potential biological weapons. This review intends to summarize basic information about these bacterial agents. Military aspects of their pathogenesis and the detection techniques suitable for field use are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Center of Advanced Studies and Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Military Health Sciences, University of Defense, 50 001 Hradec Králové, Czech Republic. rau@atlas.cz
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pohanka
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Skládal
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000881:Anthrax / Q000382:microbiology; D001408:Bacillus anthracis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D001694:Biological Warfare; D054045:Biological Warfare Agents; D005604:Francisella tularensis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity; D006801:Humans; D010930:Plague / Q000382:microbiology; D014406:Tularemia / Q000382:microbiology; D014481:United States; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D054045:Biological Warfare Agents