Citation:

Douglas, S., D. Griffin, E. Silvestri, T. Boe, P. Lemieux, J. Lisle, W. Calfee, AND T. Nichols. Joint USGS/USEPA Pathogens in Soils Geographic Information Systems Project. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, 2017.

Impact/Purpose:

Bacillus anthracis is a community member of many soil environments and its spores can be detectable in soil for many years. B. anthracis infections have been recognized as an important issue in the United States in wildlife and livestock for over 200 years. It was not until the 2001 Amerithrax incident that B. anthracis was used to intentionally infect recipients through contaminated letters in the mail. Because the source of the bacteria and the incident's perpetrator was unknown, many began asking about the ease of recovering the bacteria from the environment, ways to distinguish a natural anthrax outbreak from a deliberate release, and prevalence of B. anthracis in US soils and subsequent impact on clean-up efforts and long-term incident recovery. To elucidate the prevalence of naturally occurring B. anthracis, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (USEPA) National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) scientists teamed with scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Resources Program scientist to analyze soil samples from 4,770 sites as part of the North American Soil Geochemical Landscapes Project. Bacillus species and B. anthracis presence/absence data for the soil samples collected during this study and variables related to microbial survival (soil geochemical make-up, topological characteristics, climatic variables, and natural wildlife and livestock outbreak conditions were mapped using GIS. The GIS maps provide background data to help better manage human and animal health risks and preparation for cleaning up contamination following an incident. These findings can be used as an investigative tool by animal and public health scientists and emergency responders determine the potential for disease outbreaks and provide an accurate graphical representation of areas within the contiguous U.S. that naturally favor the environmental persistence and natural occurrence of B. anthracis in the environment.

Description:

Online interactive maps

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