Anthrax and the Geochemistry of Soils in the Contiguous United States

Geosciences

Dale W. Griffin¹  Erin E. Silvestri²  Charlena Y. Bowling²  Timothy Boe³  David B. Smith⁴ 

[1] Coastal and Marine Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, 600 4th Street South, St. Petersburg, FL 33701, USA;National Homeland Security Research Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 26 W. Martin Luther King Drive, MS NG16, Cincinnati, OH 45268, USA; E-Mails:;National Homeland Security Research Center, Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 109 T.W. Alexander Drive, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, USA; E-Mail:;Denver Federal Center, U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, MS 973, Denver, CO 80225, USA; E-Mail:

关键词: anthrax;    pathogen;    soil;    microbiology;    geology;    North America;    USA;   

DOI  :  10.3390/geosciences4030114

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Soil geochemical data from sample sites in counties that reported occurrences of anthrax in wildlife and livestock since 2000 were evaluated against counties within the same states (MN, MT, ND, NV, OR, SD and TX) that did not report occurrences. These data identified the elements, calcium (Ca), manganese (Mn), phosphorus (P) and strontium (Sr), as having statistically significant differences in concentrations between county type (anthrax occurrence versus no occurrence). Tentative threshold values of the lowest concentrations of each of these elements (Ca = 0.43 wt %, Mn = 142 mg/kg, P = 180 mg/kg and Sr = 51 mg/kg) and average concentrations (Ca = 1.3 wt %, Mn = 463 mg/kg, P = 580 mg/kg and Sr = 170 mg/kg) were identified from anthrax-positive counties as prospective investigative tools in determining whether an outbreak had “potential” or was “likely” at any given geographic location in the contiguous United States.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.