Anthrax Disease - Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

Anthrax disease is one of the oldest diseases known to humankind. This disease, also known as Sixth Plague, occurred in grazing animals and was widespread in countries like Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia etc., where it claimed hundreds of thousand lives of animals and humans.

What is Anthrax Disease

Anthrax is an acute disease occurring in several forms/strains (there are about 89 strains of this disease, few of which are lethal to humans or animals) in humans and animals and is caused by a rod-shaped bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax is a contagious disease (although more than 95% of this disease spreads through direct contact, anthrax is not a highly contagious disease) and can spread from one animal to another animal or human beings, through air inhaled or food/meat contaminated with spores. The bacterium has an ability to change forms and become dormant when exposed to extreme conditions (e.g. spores) and live for a longer period in that form. Once the spores enter into the new host’s body or come in contact with a suitable environment, the bacteria become active.

How does Anthrax Disease Spread

As already mentioned anthrax is an infectious disease and can spread in two main ways: through direct contact with the skin or tissues of an infected animal/human to another animal/human (there have been no known cases of this disease spreading from one person to another) and by inhaling the air in which bacterium of this disease is active.

In some cases, the incubation period after exposure to the bacteria can be as long as 57 to 60 days (in case of contact with the skin of an infected person/animal) and in some cases, it can be as small as 2-3 days (if the airborne spores are inhaled, which enter directly into the lungs).

The intestinal form of this disease occurs when food contaminated by the spores is eaten by an animal or a human being.

Types of Anthrax Disease

There are about 89 strains of anthrax bacteria which cause various forms of this disease in animals and humans. However, there are three main types of anthrax disease:

Cutaneous Anthrax: This type of anthrax spreads through direct contact with the skin of an infected animal or human.

Gastrointestinal Anthrax: This type of anthrax is caused by consumption of infected food/meat.

Pulmonary Anthrax: This is also known as respiratory, pneumonic or inhalational anthrax. This type of anthrax disease spreads through respiratory tract of the host when he/she inhales the spores. This type of infection is highly lethal and the mortality rates are almost 100%. This type of infection takes very less time to attack and kill the host.

What are the Symptoms of Anthrax Disease

Symptoms of Cutaneous Anthrax are:

• Infection of this type of anthrax in humans is characterized by boil-like skin lesions that start with skin bumps and form ulcers with black, painless patches/eschars.
• The ulcers start as small, black patches on skin (like itchy and irritating lesions).
• The area on the skin from where the spores penetrated the skin start showing up changes from day-two.
• Uneasy feeling due to the toxin excreted by the bacterium.

Symptoms of Gastrointestinal Anthrax are:

• Vomiting of blood
• Acute inflammation of the intestinal tract
• Severe diarrhea
• Gastrointestinal difficulty
• Loss of appetite
• Collapse of intestinal tract
• Lesions in intestinal area as well as in mouth and throat
• Uneasy feeling due to the toxin excreted by the bacterium

Symptoms of Pulmonary Anthrax are:

• This type of anthrax shows all the flu-like and common cold symptoms.
• Problems related to the respiratory system.
• Within a couple of days, the patient’s respiratory system collapses completely.

Treatment for Anthrax Disease

Among the three types of anthrax, pulmonary/respiratory anthrax is almost incurable and has almost 100% mortality rate. Once diagnosed with anthrax disease, doctor may administer high doses of antibiotics like ciprofloxacin, penicillin etc. Along with antibiotics, the patient may also be treated for the various symptoms such as respiratory system related problems, intestinal tract related problems etc.

Vaccination against this disease is also available, but it needs at least a year (during which a person is given 5 doses of vaccine) to make him/her immune to this disease.