Inactivation of Bacillus anthracis Spores

Abstract

After the intentional release of Bacillus anthracis through the U.S. Postal Service in the fall of 2001, many environments were contaminated with B. anthracis spores, and frequent inquiries were made regarding the science of destroying these spores. We conducted a survey of the literature that had potential application to the inactivation of B. anthracis spores. This article provides a tabular summary of the results.

Keywords

• and radiation
• Bacillus anthracis
• chemical sterilization
• gaseous sterilization
• heat inactivation
• sporicidal efficacy