Using genetics to disentangle anthrax transmission patterns among zebra in Etosha National Park, Namibia...a peak into a more than half finished project

Anthrax caused by the bacterial pathogen Bacillus anthracis is found globally. It has a transmission cycle that consists of a spore stage in the environment and an infectious stage, occurring most often in ungulates, which often results in death of the host. The dynamics occurring within and between infections has not been investigated due to sampling regimes as well as past assumptions about the evolution of this pathogen. Here we look into a cross section of single infections to look at the most basal processes in the transmission and evolution of this pathogen.