Anthrax? Time for Tea!

SCIENTISTS from a Welsh university have discovered a potential antidote to the deadly bio-terrorism weapon anthrax – the humble cup of tea.

The team of researchers, led by Cardiff University anthrax expert Professor Les Baillie of the Welsh School of Pharmacy, stumbled upon tea’s ability to kill the deadly bacteria after trying to prove its medical benefits to their American colleagues.

While working with Doctor Theresa Gallagher and her team at the Biodefense Institute, part of the Medical Biotechnology Centre of the University of Maryland in Baltimore, the two groups of scientists tested the effects of tea and coffee on anthrax, or bacillus anthracis.

Prof Baillie said, “The discovery came out of some Friday afternoon science. Our American colleagues were drinking vast amounts of Starbuck’s coffee and we wanted to show them how much better tea was for you.

“We decided to research, under very strict laboratory conditions, if English breakfast tea was more effective than a commercially available American medium-roast coffee at killing anthrax.

“We found that special components in tea such as polyphenols have the ability to inhibit the activity of anthrax quite considerably.

“The Chinese and Japanese have said for many, many years about the medicinal qualities of tea and there have been studies to show it can protect against some forms of radiation.”

"What's more, given the ability of tea to bring solace and steady the mind and to inactivate Bacillus anthracis and its toxin, perhaps the Boston Tea Party was not such a good idea after all," Baillie said in a statement.