ArticleApplied and environmental microbiology2013
Effects of experimental exclusion of scavengers from carcasses of anthrax-infected herbivores on Bacillus anthracis sporulation, survival, and distribution.
Article in Applied and environmental microbiology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 28 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 55 citations in OpenAlex.
- Global decline of apex scavengers threatens human health.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Toxin and capsule production by Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis influence pathogenicity in macrophages and animal models.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2024Article
- Soil Sample Analysis ofMicroorganisms · 2024Article
- The influence of extrachromosomal elements in the anthrax "cross-over" strainFrontiers in microbiology · 2023Article
- Integrating terrestrial scavenging ecology into contemporary wildlife conservation and management.Ecology and evolution · 2022Review
- Immunological Evidence of Variation in Exposure and Immune Response toFrontiers in immunology · 2022Article
- Article
- Understanding potential implications for non-trophic parasite transmission based on vertebrate behavior at mesocarnivore carcass sites.Veterinary research communications · 2021Article
- Anthrax Surveillance and the Limited Overlap Between Obligate Scavengers and Endemic Anthrax Zones in the United States.Vector borne and zoonotic diseases (Larchmont, N.Y.) · 2021Article
- Disease or drought: environmental fluctuations release zebra from a potential pathogen-triggered ecological trap.Proceedings. Biological sciences · 2021Article
- Monitoring the dead as an ecosystem indicator.Ecology and evolution · 2021Article
- Factors influencing scavenger guilds and scavenging efficiency in Southwestern Montana.Scientific reports · 2021Article
- Can scavengers save zebras from anthrax? A modeling study.Infectious Disease Modelling · 2021Article
- Ungulate use of locally infectious zones in a re-emerging anthrax risk area.Royal Society open science · 2020Article
- Potential distributions of Bacillus anthracis and Bacillus cereus biovar anthracis causing anthrax in Africa.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2020Article
- Environmental determinants influencing anthrax distribution in Queen Elizabeth Protected Area, Western Uganda.PloS one · 2020Article
- Linking Geospatial and Laboratory Sciences to Define Mechanisms behind Landscape Level Drivers of Anthrax Outbreaks.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Article
- Effects of vulture exclusion on carrion consumption by facultative scavengers.Ecology and evolution · 2018Article
- Consumption of Big Game Remains by Scavengers: A Potential Risk as Regards Disease Transmission in Central Spain.Frontiers in veterinary science · 2018Article
- Spatio-temporal epidemiology of anthrax in Hippopotamus amphibious in Queen Elizabeth Protected Area, Uganda.PloS one · 2018Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 4 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Scavenging of anthrax carcasses has long been hypothesized to play a critical role in the production of the infectious spore stage of Bacillus anthracis after host death, though empirical studies assessing this are lacking. We compared B. anthracis spore production, distribution, and survival at naturally occurring anthrax herbivore carcasses that were either experimentally caged to exclude vertebrate scavengers or left unmanipulated. We found no significant effect of scavengers on soil spore density (P > 0.05). Soil stained with terminally hemorrhaged blood and with nonhemorrhagic fluids exhibited high levels of B. anthracis spore contamination (ranging from 10(3) to 10(8) spores/g), even in the absence of vertebrate scavengers. At most of the carcass sites, we also found that spore density in samples taken from hemorrhagic-fluid-stained soil continued to increase for >4 days after host death. We conclude that scavenging by vertebrates is not a critical factor in the life cycle of B. anthracis and that anthrax control measures relying on deterrence or exclusion of vertebrate scavengers to prevent sporulation are unlikely to be effective.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.