Adverse
Harmful or unfavorable.

Aerosolized
Put into a form of a cloud of solid or liquid particles in a gas.

Anthrax
A disease caused by a microscopic organism called Bacillus Anthracis that affects livestock and other warm-blooded animals including humans. Infection in humans most often involves the skin, the gastrointestinal tract, or the lungs.

Antibiotics
A substance made by or derived from fungi, bacteria, and other organisms, that is able to destroy or halt the growth of other microscopic organisms. Antibiotics are widely used in the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases.

Antibiotic Resistant
Bacteria that have been exposed to antibiotics over and over sometimes develop the ability to protect themselves from the effects of the drugs. New drugs must be used to stop their growth once they have become resistant.

Bacterium
A microscopic organism that can exist in many forms. They can thrive by themselves in the environment or act as parasites (that is, using other organisms for nourishment).

Bio-Engineered
Using engineering principles in the fields of biology and medicine to change a substance or process. Also may be referred to as biotechnology. Biotechnology is the use of microorganisms, such as bacteria, or biological substances, such as enzymes, to perform specific industrial or manufacturing processes.

Clinical trial
A method in medical research used to determine if new drugs and treatments are safe and effective. They usually involve experiments with either animals or organisms.

Contagious
Capable of transmitting a disease by direct or indirect person-to-person contact.

Cutaneous
Having to do with the skin.

Gastrointestinal
Having to do with the stomach and/or intestines.

Hemorrhagic meningitis
An infection of the membranes covering the brain and spinal cord. The infection is usually caused by bacteria and involves bleeding of the tissues.

Immunity
The body makes a substance called antibodies that are the defense against foreign substances. The presence of these antibodies is known as immunity.

Inflammation
Irritation, injury or infection of a given area.

Inhalational
Breathed into the lungs.

Irradiation
Exposing to radiation in order to inactivate the bacterium.

Local
Affecting a specific part of the body instead of the whole body.

Lymph nodes
Tissues that filter out impurities in the body’s fluids. They enlarge when the body is fighting an infection. They house the cells that make antibodies to fight infection.

Malaise
A vague feeling of illness, sometimes comes before a more serious illness.

Papule
A small, hard, round bump on the skin resembling an insect bite.

Protocol
The plan for a course of medical treatment or for a scientific experiment.

Pulmonary
Relating to the lungs.

Respiratory
Relating to the act or process of inhaling and exhaling.

Spores
Some bacteria turn into small, usually single-celled reproductive bodies that are resistant to heat and are capable of growing into a new organism.

Vaccine
A substance containing dead or weakened living infectious material that is introduced into the body with the goal of increasing the bodies antibodies against that disease.

Virulent
Extremely infectious, malignant, or poisonous.

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