Anthrax vaccine
Vaccines against anthrax, from Pasteur to modern biological warfare protection.
Anthrax vaccines protect livestock and humans from anthrax, a disease caused by the bacterium *Bacillus anthracis*. These vaccines hold a notable place in medical history: Louis Pasteur’s 19th-century work with cattle produced the first effective bacterial vaccine and only the second effective vaccine ever, while a modern version sparked controversy in the late 20th century when it was used to shield American troops from anthrax in biological warfare.
Pasteur’s famous public experiment in May 1881 at Pouilly-le-Fort demonstrated his vaccination concept. He prepared two groups of animals—25 sheep, one goat, and several cows in each. One group received two injections of his anthrax vaccine, spaced 15 days apart; the other group was left unvaccinated. Thirty days after the first injection, both groups were exposed to live anthrax bacteria. All unvaccinated animals died; all vaccinated animals survived, generating sensational public interest. Pasteur claimed he had made the vaccine by exposing the bacilli to oxygen, but his laboratory notebooks reveal he actually used the method of rival Jean-Joseph-Henri Toussaint, a Toulouse veterinary surgeon, which employed the oxidizing agent potassium dichromate. Pasteur’s oxygen method eventually produced a vaccine, but only after he had secured a patent for anthrax vaccine production. The idea of using a weak form of a disease to create immunity was not new—smallpox inoculation (variolation) had long been known to reduce scarring and mortality. Edward Jenner had discovered vaccination with cowpox in 1796, which by Pasteur’s time had largely replaced variolation. The key advance with anthrax and chicken cholera was that the weakened form was generated artificially, eliminating the need to find a naturally weak strain. Pasteur named these artificially weakened diseases “vaccines” in honor of Jenner. In 1885, he produced his first rabies vaccine by growing the virus in rabbits and weakening it by drying nerve tissue. In 1995, science historian Gerald L. Geison, after reading Pasteur’s lab notes, declared in *The New York Times* that Pasteur had given a misleading account of the Pouilly-le-Fort vaccine’s preparation. That same year, Max Perutz published a vigorous defense of Pasteur in *The New York Review of Books*.
Human anthrax vaccines were developed by the Soviet Union in the late 1930s and became available by 1940. T
- first effective bacterial vaccine
- Pasteur's 1881 anthrax vaccine
- current FDA-approved vaccine
- Formulated in the 1960s (AVA, trade name BioThrax)
- human vaccine developers
- Soviet Union (late 1930s), US and UK (1950s)
- veterinary vaccine basis
- Sterne strain (34F2), developed in 1935
- serious adverse reaction rate
- About 1% of recipients
- current human vaccine types
- Acellular (USA, UK) and live spore (Russia)
Quick Facts
- Target
- Anthrax
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
In the 1870s, French chemist Louis Pasteur applied his method of immunising chickens against chicken cholera to anthrax, which affected cattle. In May 1881, Pasteur performed a famous public experiment at Pouilly-le-Fort, vaccinating one group of animals and leaving a control group unvaccinated; all vaccinated animals survived a later injection of live anthrax bacteria, while all unvaccinated animals died. Pasteur publicly claimed he had made the vaccine by exposing the bacilli to oxygen, but his laboratory notebooks show he used the method of rival Jean-Joseph-Henri Toussaint, which used the oxidizing agent potassium dichromate.
The Austrian-South African immunologist Max Sterne developed an attenuated live animal vaccine in 1935 at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Research Institute. His 'Sterne strain' (34F2) became the basis of most livestock anthrax vaccines worldwide. Human anthrax vaccines were developed by the Soviet Union in the late 1930s and in the US and UK in the 1950s. The current FDA-approved vaccine was formulated in the 1960s.
Reader's Guide
Anthrax vaccines represent a critical chapter in the history of immunology and public health. Pasteur's 1881 experiment demonstrated the first effective bacterial vaccine, proving that artificially weakened pathogens could confer immunity. This principle revolutionized infectious disease control and led to the generic term 'vaccines' in honor of Edward Jenner. The development of the Sterne strain in 1935 provided a safer, more reliable veterinary vaccine that remains the global standard. Human vaccines emerged from military and biological warfare concerns: the Soviet Union produced a live spore vaccine by 1940, while the US and UK developed acellular vaccines in the 1950s. The current US vaccine (AVA, BioThrax) was formulated in the 1960s and controversially used to protect American troops against potential anthrax biological warfare. All current human anthrax vaccines cause considerable local and general reactogenicity, with serious adverse reactions in about 1% of recipients. New third-generation vaccines, including recombinant live and sub-unit vaccines, are under research. The history of anthrax vaccines also includes scientific controversy: in 1995, historian Gerald L. Geison declared that Pasteur had given a misleading account of his vaccine's preparation, though Max Perutz published a vigorous defense of Pasteur.
Did You Know?
- Pasteur's 1881 anthrax vaccine was the first effective bacterial vaccine and the second effective vaccine ever.
- The Sterne strain (34F2), developed in 1935, is the basis of most livestock anthrax vaccines used worldwide today.
- Human anthrax vaccines were developed by the Soviet Union in the late 1930s and by the US and UK in the 1950s.
- All currently used human anthrax vaccines show considerable local and general reactogenicity, with serious adverse reactions in about 1% of recipients.
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