Anthrax is an acute infectious disease caused by the spore-forming bacterium Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax most commonly occurs in hoofed mammals and can also infect humans.

Symptoms of disease vary depending on how the disease was contracted, but usually occur within 7 days after exposure. The serious forms of human anthrax are inhalation anthrax, cutaneous anthrax, and intestinal anthrax.

Initial symptoms of inhalation anthrax infection may resemble a common cold. After several days, the symptoms may progress to severe breathing problems and shock. Inhalation anthrax is often fatal.

The intestinal disease form of anthrax may follow the consumption of contaminated food and is characterized by an acute inflammation of the intestinal tract. Initial signs are usually:

•  Nausea
• Fever
• Loss of appetite
• Vomiting and fever are followed by:
• Abdominal pain,
• Vomiting of blood and,
• Severe Diarrhea.

Anthrax symptoms depend on how the person got the disease. These are the symptoms for the three ways to get anthrax:

Inhalation (breathing) — Initial symptoms are much like a common cold, and may mimic flu-like symptoms. However, several hours to several days later they progress to severe breathing problems and shock.

Cutaneous (skin) — Skin infection begins as a raised itchy bump that resembles an insect bite, but within one to two days develops into a sore, and then into a painless ulcer with a black (dead) center. Lymph glands in the adjacent area may swell.

Intestinal (eating) — Initial signs of nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, and fever are followed by abdominal pain, vomiting of blood, and severe diarrhea.

Direct person-to-person spread of anthrax is extremely unlikely, if it occurs at all. Therefore, there is no need to immunize or treat contacts of persons ill with anthrax, such as household contacts, friends, or coworkers, unless they also were also exposed to the same source of infection.

In persons exposed to anthrax, infection can be prevented with antibiotic treatment. ² Early antibiotic treatment of anthrax is essentialºdelay lessens chances for survival. Anthrax usually is susceptible to penicillin, doxycycline, and fluoroquinolones — which includes Cipro, also known as ciprofloxacin.

An anthrax vaccine also can prevent infection. Vaccination against anthrax is not recommended for the general public to prevent disease and is not available.

Information from the CDC and used with their permission. For more, visit their site; click on the logo.