What exactly is anthrax?
Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria known as Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax can be found naturally in soil and commonly affects domestic and wild animals around the world.
What causes anthrax in humans?
Anthrax is a rare but serious illness caused by a spore-forming bacterium, Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax mainly affects livestock and wild game. Humans can become infected through direct or indirect contact with sick animals.
What is the original Greek meaning of anthrax?
Bacillus anthracis, the organism that causes anthrax, derives its name from the Greek word for coal, anthracis, because of its ability to cause black, coal-like cutaneous eschars.
Is anthrax a powder?
Anthrax has been used as a weapon around the world for nearly a century. In 2001, powdered anthrax spores were deliberately put into letters that were mailed through the U.S. postal system. Twenty-two people, including 12 mail handlers, got anthrax, and five of these 22 people died.
What does anthrax look like?
Cutaneous Anthrax *The characteristic rash of anthrax looks like pink, itchy bumps that occur at the site where B. anthracis comes into contact with scratched or otherwise open skin. The pink bumps progress to blisters, which further progress to open sores with a black base (called an eschar).
Why is anthrax so dangerous?
Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the bacteria Bacillus anthracis (BA). BA is particularly dangerous because it normally is found in the environment (e.g., in soil) as microscopic endospores. These spores, as they are commonly called, are dormant structures that can survive for many years,…
What are the signs and symptoms of anthrax?
Symptoms of gastrointestinal anthrax include nausea, loss of appetite, abdominal distress, diarrhea, and fever. The initial symptoms of inhalation anthrax are cold or flu-like symptoms including a sore throat, mild fever, and muscle aches.
What type of anthrax is most lethal?
Inhalation anthrax is considered to be the most deadly form of anthrax. Gastointestinal: Gastrointestinal anthrax has rarely been reported in the United States. Infection usually develops from 1 to 7 days after exposure.
What does the name anthrax mean?
Anthrax is an infection by bacteria, Bacillus anthracis, usually transmitted from animals. Anthrax causes skin, lung, and bowel disease and can be deadly. Anthrax is diagnosed using bacterial cultures from infected tissues. There are four types of anthrax: cutaneous, inhalation, gastrointestinal, and injection. Anthrax is treated by antibiotics.