Anthrax is an infection caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. It can occur in four forms: skin, lungs and injection. Symptoms begin between two months after the infection is contracted; the skin form presents with a small blister with surrounding swelling that turns into a painless ulcer with a black center. The inhalation form presents with fever, chest pain, shortness of breath; the intestinal form presents with diarrhea which may contain blood, abdominal pains and vomiting. The injection form presents with an abscess at the site of drug injection. Anthrax is spread by contact with the bacterium's spores, which appear in infectious animal products. Contact is through an area of broken skin, it does not spread directly between people. Risk factors include people who work with animals or animal products, postal workers, military personnel. Diagnosis can be confirmed by finding antibodies or the toxin in the blood or by culture of a sample from the infected site. Anthrax vaccination is recommended for people.

Immunizing animals against anthrax is recommended in areas. A two-months' course of antibiotics such as ciprofloxacin and doxycycline after exposure can prevent infection. If infection occurs, treatment is with antibiotics and antitoxin; the type and number of antibiotics used depends on the type of infection. Antitoxin is recommended for those with widespread infection. Although a rare disease, human anthrax, when it does occur, is most common in Africa and central and southern Asia, it occurs more in Southern Europe than elsewhere on the continent, is uncommon in Northern Europe and North America. Globally, at least 2,000 cases occur a year with about two cases a year in the United States. Skin infections represent more than 95% of cases. Without treatment, the risk of death from skin anthrax is 24%. For intestinal infection, the risk of death is 25 to 75%, while respiratory anthrax has a mortality of 50 to 80% with treatment; until the 20th century, anthrax infections killed hundreds of thousands of people and animals each year.

Anthrax has been developed as a weapon by a number of countries. In plant-eating animals, infection occurs when they breathe in the spores while grazing. Animals may become infected by eating infected animals. Cutaneous anthrax known as hide-porter's disease, is when anthrax occurs on the skin, it is the most common form. It is the least dangerous form. Cutaneous anthrax presents as a boil-like skin lesion that forms an ulcer with a black center; the black eschar shows up as a large, necrotic ulcer at the site of infection. In general, cutaneous infections form within the site of spore penetration between two and five days after exposure. Unlike bruises or most other lesions, cutaneous anthrax infections do not cause pain. Nearby lymph nodes may become infected, reddened and painful. A scab forms over the lesion soon, falls off in a few weeks. Complete recovery may take longer. Cutaneous anthrax is caused when B. anthracis spores enter through cuts on the skin. This form is found most when humans handle infected animals and/or animal products.

Cutaneous anthrax is fatal if treated, because the infection area is limited to the skin, preventing the lethal factor, edema factor, protective antigen from entering and destroying a vital organ. Without treatment, about 20 % of cutaneous skin infection cases progress to death. Respiratory infection in humans is rare and presents as two stages, it infects the lymph nodes in the chest first, rather than the lungs themselves, a condition called hemorrhagic mediastinitis, causing bloody fluid to accumulate in the chest cavity, therefore causing shortness of breath. The first stage causes flu-like symptoms. Symptoms include fever, shortness of breath, cough and chills; this can last hours to days. Many fatalities from inhalational anthrax are when the first stage is mistaken for the cold or flu and the victim does not seek treatment until the second stage, 90% fatal; the second stage occurs. Symptoms of the second stage develop after hours or days of the first stage. Symptoms include high fever, extreme shortness of breath and rapid death within 48 hours in fatal cases.

Historical mortality rates were over 85%, but when treated early, observed case fatality rate dropped to 45%. Distinguishing pulmonary anthrax from more common causes of respiratory illness is essential to avoiding delays in diagnosis and thereby improving outcomes. An algorithm for this purpose has been developed. Gastrointestinal infection is most caused by consuming anthrax-infected meat and is characterized by diarrhea with blood, abdominal pains, acute inflammation of the intestinal tract, loss of appetite. Occasional vomiting of blood can occur. Lesions have been found in the mouth and throat. After the bacterium invades the gastrointestinal system, it spreads to the bloodstream and throughout the body, while continuing to make toxins. GI infections can be treated, but result in fatality rates of 25% to 60%, depending upon how soon treatment commences; this form of anthrax is the rarest. Bacillus anthracis is a rod-shaped, Gram-positive, facultative

Freshpet is an American manufacturer of fresh, refrigerated food and treats for dogs and cats using natural ingredients, are the first in the fresh and refrigerated category to be distributed across North America. It was founded in 2006 and combines meats with fruits and vegetables to make foods and treats for pets. Freshpet stock is traded on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol "FRPT". Pet foods manufactured by this company are available in over 20,000 stores in the United States, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, including mass-market stores, natural food retailers, pet specialty stores, retailers Walmart, Whole Foods and petsmartWhile sales in other pet food categories are flat or in decline, the frozen/refrigerated dog food market grew by 31% in 2018, with similar growth in the refrigerated cat food market. Freshpet's own sales were up 27% as of their Q3 earnings call in 2018. Freshpet has Freshpet Vet site where veterinarians can gain detailed information on which fresh pet food is best to recommend to pet patients.

Freshpet foods must be served accordingly. Just like the refrigerated food that humans eat, "Pet parents" must ensure that purchase and serving is within expiration date. In 2013, Freshpet opened a new manufacturing facility, the Freshpet Kitchens, located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania; this new $25 million facility was built to resemble human-grade manufacturing standards. In 2015, the company opened a new development center in the township. In 2018, it announced an investment of $100+ million to expand its pet food production operations at its current location. In February 2020, Freshpet announced that a new pet food manufacturing facility will be built in Ennis, expected to create 427 jobs; the state awarded Freshpet with a $2.0 million grant from its Texas Enterprise Fund. Freshpet food makes refrigerated dog and cat foods and dog treats under the brands Freshpet Select, Dog Joy, Nature's Fresh and Dognation. Freshpet Select foods and Dog Joy treats are sold at grocery and mass merchandise retailers.

Vital foods, Dognation treats are sold at pet specialty retailers. Nature's Fresh foods are sold at natural retailers; the brand's dog food products include roasted meals and Fresh from the Kitchen. Cat products consist of pâté rolls, cat roasted meals, stews. Freshpet claims its food does not contain any processed meat meals or by-products, is made in small batches at lower temperatures to preserve the natural goodness of the ingredients. Unlike traditional shelf-stable pet foods, Freshpet ingredients are cooked once at lower temperatures. Thus, similar to less-processed foods such as milk, natural cooked meats and yogurt, the meals have a shorter shelf life. At the end of 2018, advertising analytics firm Ace Metrix named Freshpet's “The Story of Princess” TV spot as the #1 best storytelling ad of the year. “Princess” tells the story of Princess the pitbull, rescued from a fighting house by her owner, Kandi. In October 2018, Freshpet launched their Tattoo Pawlor event in partnership with First Class Tattoos in New York City.

10 pet owners were selected to have their pet's face tattooed on courtesy of Freshpet. In September 2018, Freshpet released “Pet Parents, Oversharing,” a podcast hosted by improv comediennes and pet owners Kaity Reagle and Andrea Shapiro; the 7-episode season explored. In September 2017, Freshpet released its “Picky Eater Approved” TV spot, which featured the story of Rudy the pug who went on a hunger strike until his owner, Mary Ann, fed him Freshpet. In December 2014, Freshpet released its “Freshpet Holiday Feast” video, which became viral with over 13M views; the video began the brand's holiday tradition of a releasing an entertaining video for animal lovers every December. On December 7, 2015, Freshpet uploaded the Santa Elves video on their YouTube page, garnering 1.7M views. The video was made in collaboration with the Salt Lake County Animal Services and Freshpet donated one meal of Freshpet food for every share the video generated. Other viral video releases from the brand include “Cats Vs. Dogs,” “People Eating Dog Food Without Knowing It,” and “Santa’s Elves,” a 2015 holiday video featuring social media celebrity Marnie the dog.

In 2018, Freshpet released dual videos for the holiday season, with “Pet Parents Go Overboard for the Holidays” and “The Pup Who Stole Christmas,” which together amassed over 6M views. Freshpet operates its business, from wind-powered, landfill-free kitchens, to donate over 3 million meals to rescues and shelters across the US. In 2018, the company started its Fresh Start campaign, a charitable effort to raise awareness for over-looked shelter animals that face stigmas to adoption, such as breed types, disabilities or past abuse; as part of the campaign, Freshpet funded a new intensive care unit for the Animal Alliance of New Jersey, a shelter that specializes in rescuing high-risk cats and dogs that need serious medical intervention. The 2014 "Holiday Feast" video was a joint venture between Freshpet and the Humane Society of Utah to help animals find permanent homes; this collaborative effort was able to collect donations for many animal shelters. Freshpet paid the adoption fees and provided the families with a supply of pet food to get them started.

NJ.com - Paw Print: Pet food company steps up to the plate South Charlotte Weekly – Culinary Corner: Canine Cuisine Official website Business data for Freshpet, Inc

IBC Vehicles Limited is a British automotive manufacturing company based in Luton, Bedfordshire and a subsidiary of Vauxhall, itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Opel Automobile GmbH. Its principal operation is an assembly plant located in Luton, Vauxhall Luton, which produces light commercial vehicles sold under the Opel and Vauxhall marques. IBC Vehicles has its roots in the van manufacturing subsidiary of Vauxhall. In 1986 the Bedford Vehicles van factory in Luton was reorganised as a joint venture with Isuzu; the resulting company was named IBC Vehicles. Its first product was the Bedford Midi - a badge engineered clone of the Isuzu Fargo midsize panel van, intended to replace the ageing Bedford CF; the Suzuki-based Bedford Rascal microvan followed in 1987. In 1992 the factory produced a European version of the Isuzu Wizard aka Amigo 4WD called the Opel/Vauxhall Frontera and the Isuzu MU aka Trooper 4WD called the Opel/Vauxhall Monterey and a range of Renault-designed vans sold under the Vauxhall and Opel brand names.

The Bedford name was dropped as were all of its preceding range apart from the Midi. The Frontera A was produced from 1992 - 1998 and the Frontera B 1998 - 2004. In 1998 GM renamed the plant to GMM Luton. GMM Luton produced the Opel/Vauxhall Vivaro A, Renault Trafic and Nissan Primastar from 2001 to 2014; the Hi-top roof versions were built in Barcelona, Spain by Renault at the former Nissan Plant because the Luton IBC building was not high enough to accommodate the Hi-top vehicles. By 2011, the plant had produced 1.25 million vehicles since the 2001 launch, with production now down to 68,000 vehicles a year, with a capacity for 100,000. Opel/Vauxhall announced in 2011 that the 2013 Vivaro would continue production at Luton and the high roof versions and the Renault Trafic would be manufactured at Sandouville, France. Luton Plant. Facts and Figures