[Physicist]

What about that Crop Duster that went missing the other day off the Bahamas? Not trying to be alarmist, but is that a method that could be used?

The claim is that a crop duster would not be appropriate for distributing anthrax spores, because the droplet size is orders of magnitude too large. Anthrax needs to be aerosolized.

[Loopy]

OK, I'll buy that. The guy apparently has Inhalation Anthrax (according to Tommy Thomspon) doesn't that rule out, him getting it from food he ate or a deer he may have killed while hunting in NC?

I answered my own question.

Cutaneous: Most (about 95%) anthrax infections occur when the bacterium enters a cut or abrasion on the skin, such as when handling contaminated wool, hides, leather or hair products (especially goat hair) of infected animals

The intestinal disease form of anthrax may follow the consumption of contaminated meat and is characterized by an acute inflammation of the intestinal tract.

So, it couldn't have been from eating because that'd be intestinal, and he couldn't have gotten it from a skin lesion (which makes up 95% of the admittedly rare disease).

Help me out with facts. I'm starting to get real nervous.

[HiTech RedNeck]

It could be that even a clumsy, amateurish attempt to spread it would cause some cases. This fellow in Florida might be one.

[spunkets]

"The claim is that a crop duster would not be appropriate for distributing anthrax spores, because the droplet size is orders of magnitude too large. Anthrax needs to be aerosolized."

That's hype. So what if the efficiency stinks. If you inhale a small particle of infected slime, how much more agent will be in a particle a thousand times larger? These particles will infect the same as the little ones. The little ones may end up deeper in the lungs for a quicker kill, but...

Adjust the orifice size and delivery pressure...

[InfraRed]

The claim is that a crop duster would not be appropriate for distributing anthrax spores, because the droplet size is orders of magnitude too large. Anthrax needs to be aerosolized.

While watching the news last night, the owner of a crop duster explained the ineffectiveness of the large nozzles. They actually showed the little screw-on nozzles used, and the rubber gaskets that seal them. It looked like 45 seconds of work to replace the nickle sized device with an atomizing tip. A quick web search turned up sample packs of atomizing tips for $50.

[aomagrat]

The claim is that a crop duster would not be appropriate for distributing anthrax spores, because the droplet size is orders of magnitude too large. Anthrax needs to be aerosolized.

Any mosquito fogger trucks been reported missing?

[lafroste]

The claim is that a crop duster would not be appropriate for distributing anthrax spores, because the droplet size is orders of magnitude too large. Anthrax needs to be aerosolized.

I don't mean to be alarmist, but it seems to me that an aerosol would not be that hard to produce. (I assume you are talking a mean hydraulic radius on the order of 10 microns).