McSweegan Edward
Med Hypotheses. 2004;62(1):155-7. doi: 10.1016/s0306-9877(03)00303-7.
In 2001, spores of Bacillus anthracis were deliberately sent through the United States postal system, resulting in five deaths from inhalational anthrax. Rarely observed clinical symptoms associated with these cases led to a hypothesis about the etiology of the English Sweating Sickness. The disease appeared sporadically in England between 1485 and 1551. Numerous viruses have been proposed as possible causes of the "English Sweat". Anthrax has not previously been considered because, documented cases of inhalational anthrax have been rare and pronounced sweating was not a noted symptom of the more common cutaneous and gastrointestinal forms of anthrax. Victims of the English Sweating Sickness have recently been identified in undisturbed tombs. It may be possible to examine those bodies and coffins for the presence of resilient anthrax spores and DNA using modern genomic tools.
2001年，炭疽芽孢杆菌的孢子被蓄意通过美国邮政系统寄送，导致5人因吸入性炭疽死亡。与这些病例相关的罕见临床症状引发了关于英国汗热病病因的一种假说。该病于1485年至1551年间在英格兰零星出现。许多病毒已被提出可能是“英国汗病”的病因。此前炭疽未被考虑在内，因为有记录的吸入性炭疽病例很少见，而且明显出汗并非更常见的皮肤型和胃肠型炭疽的显著症状。最近在未受干扰的坟墓中发现了英国汗热病的受害者。利用现代基因组工具检查那些尸体和棺材中是否存在有弹性的炭疽孢子和DNA或许是可行的。
