Effect of X-irradiation on the course of experimental vaccine anthrax

The author studied the course of vaccine anthrax infection in irradiated rabbits. The experiments show that infection of irradiated rabbits with a vaccine strain can give rise to a disease bacteriologically, clinically, histologically and biochemically identical with typical anthrax and that anthrax toxin can be demonstrated in the plasma of dead rabbits. The main cause of anthrax sepsis is not raised sensitivity to the toxin, but the high degree of proliferation of the microorganism in the irradiated organism. The significance of phagocytosis as a defence against vaccine anthrax infection and the significance of the capsule or of another somatic substance for the development of the anthrax syndrome are discussed.