Ames strain
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The Ames strain is one of 89 strains from the anthrax bacteria (Bacillus anthracis). It was isolated from a diseased cow that died in Texas. Researchers mistakenly believed the strain came from Ames, Iowa and mislabeled the specimen. The Ames strain came to the public's attention during the 2001 anthrax attacks. Seven letters mailed to media outlets and United States Senators on September 18, 2001 and October 9, 2001 contained anthrax bacteria that grew from this particular strain. This strain is a monomorphic disease, mutating slowly if at all.
Because of its virulence, the Ames strain is used by the United States as a "gold standard" for development of vaccines and testing their effectiveness, starting at 1980s after the work with weaponizing the Vollum 1B strain ended and the weaponized stocks destroyed after the end of U.S. biological warfare program in 1969. [link]
External links
- [The Ames Strain]
- [One Anthrax Answer: Ames Strain Not From Iowa]
- [The Ames strain: What's in a name?]
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