Anthrax
Anthrax, also called
SPLENIC FEVER, MALIGNANT PUSTULE, or WOOLSORTERS' DISEASE, acute,
specific, infectious, febrile disease of animals, including humans, caused
by Bacillus anthracis, an organism that under certain
conditions forms highly resistant spores capable of persisting and
retaining their virulence in contaminated soil or other material for many
years. A disease chiefly of herbivores (grass eaters), the infection may
be acquired by persons handling the wool, hair, hides, bones, or carcasses
of affected animals.
Anthrax is one of the oldest
recorded diseases of animals, being mentioned by Moses in Exodus 9:9 and,
among the classical authors of Greek and Roman antiquity, by Homer,
Hippocrates, Ovid, Galen, Virgil, and Pliny. Devastating epidemics of the
disease are recorded by many medieval and modern writers. In the 18th and
19th centuries it sometimes spread like a plague over the southern part of
Europe, taking a heavy toll of human and animal life. Anthrax was the
first disease of humans and other animals in which the causative agent was
definitely demonstrated as a specific microorganism--by the French
biologist Casimir-Joseph Davaine in 1863 and in 1876 by the German
bacteriologist Robert Koch, who isolated the organism in pure
culture. It was also the first infectious disease against which a
bacterial vaccine was found to be effective, by Louis Pasteur in
1881. These discoveries led to the origin and development of the modern
sciences of bacteriology and immunology.
Practically all animals are
susceptible to anthrax. Cattle, sheep, goats, horses, and mules are the
most commonly affected and usually acquire the anthrax disease by grazing on
contaminated pastures. Outbreaks in swine, dogs, cats, and wild animals
held in captivity generally result from consumption of contaminated food.
The disease may occur in a peracute (extremely acute), acute, or subacute
form (internal anthrax) or in a chronic or localized form (external
anthrax). In the acute forms there is excitement and a rise in body
temperature followed by depression, spasms, respiratory or cardiac
distress, trembling, staggering, convulsions, and death. Bloody discharges
sometimes come from the natural body openings, and edematous (serous
fluid) swellings may appear on different parts of the body. The peracute
and acute forms usually terminate in death within a day or two; the
subacute form may lead to death in three to five days or longer or to
complete recovery after several days. Chronic anthrax occurs mostly in
swine and dogs and is characterized by marked swelling of the throat,
difficult breathing, and a bloodstained frothy discharge from the mouth.
Affected animals sometimes die of suffocation. Prophylactic vaccination is
extensively used in preventing anthrax in livestock. During outbreaks,
strict quarantine measures, disposal of diseased carcasses by burning, fly
control, and good sanitation are essential in controlling the disease.
Anthrax in humans occurs as a
cutaneous, pulmonary, or intestinal infection; the most common type occurs
as a primary localized infection of the skin in the form of a carbuncle.
It usually results from handling infected material, lesions occurring
mostly on the hands, arms, or neck as a small pimple that develops rapidly
into a large vesicle with black necrotic centre (the malignant pustule).
Should this condition become generalized, a fatal septicemia (blood
poisoning) may ensue. The pulmonary form (woolsorters' disease) affects
principally the lungs and pleura and results from inhaling anthrax spores
in areas where hair and wool are processed. This form of the disease
usually runs a rapid course and terminates fatally. The intestinal form of
the disease, which sometimes follows the consumption of contaminated meat,
is characterized by an acute inflammation of the intestinal tract,
vomiting, and severe diarrhea. Anthrax is occasionally transmitted to
humans by spore-contaminated brushes or by wearing apparel such as furs
and leather goods. Prompt diagnosis and early treatment are of great
importance. Antianthrax serum, arsenicals, and antibiotics are used with
excellent results. The hazard of infection to industrial workers can be
reduced by sterilization of potentially contaminated material before
handling, protective clothing, use of respirators, and good sanitary
facilities and in agricultural workers by avoiding the skinning or opening
of animals that died of the disease.
Copyright 1994-1999 Encyclopedia Britannica
Anthrax | Bioterrorism | Smallpox Danger |
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