Short answers, pulled from the story.
German physician Robert Koch isolated the rod-shaped bacterium Bacillus anthracis in 1875. He took a blood sample from an infected cow in Wollstein to prove that microbes cause illness.
A small blister appears on the skin within two to five days after exposure to cutaneous anthrax. It evolves into a painless ulcer with a black center known as an eschar surrounded by redness and swelling.
French scientist Louis Pasteur conducted a public experiment at Pouilly-le-Fort in May 1881. He prepared groups of animals including 25 sheep, one goat, and several cattle to test his vaccine.
Nordic rebels supplied by the German General Staff used anthrax against the Imperial Russian Army in Finland during 1916. Unit 731 of the Japanese Kwantung Army tested anthrax as Agent N on prisoners of war in Manchuria throughout the 1930s while British scientists developed Operation Vegetarian in 1942.
Bruce Ivins, a senior biodefense researcher employed by the government, was identified as responsible in August 2008. Letters sent to Tom Daschle of South Dakota and Patrick Leahy of Vermont resulted in 22 infections and five deaths.
At least 2,000 cases occur globally each year with about two cases annually in the United States. Skin infections represent more than 95% of all reported human cases.