Key points
- Anthrax can cause severe illness in both people and animals.
- The bacteria that cause anthrax occur naturally in soil worldwide.
- People usually get anthrax from infected animals or contaminated animal products.
- Call a healthcare provider immediately if you think you have been exposed to anthrax.
Overview
Anthrax is a serious disease usually caused by Bacillus anthracis bacteria. The bacteria are found naturally in soil around the world and often affect livestock and wild animals. People usually get sick if they come in contact with anthrax spores in infected animals or contaminated animal products. People can get anthrax spores in a cut or scrape in the skin, breathe them in, or eat food or drink water contaminated with spores.
Livestock and wild animals can become infected when they breathe in, eat, or drink spores in contaminated soil, plants, or water. These animals can include cattle, sheep, goats, antelope, and deer.
Anthrax is rare in the United States. However, occasional outbreaks happen in wild and domestic grazing animals such as cattle or deer. In the United States, veterinarians recommend yearly vaccination of livestock in areas where animals have had anthrax in the past.
Types
The type of illness a person develops depends on how anthrax spores enter the body: through the skin, lungs, or gastrointestinal system. All types of anthrax can cause severe illness or death if they're not treated with antibiotics.
Cutaneous anthrax
Cutaneous anthrax happens when anthrax spores get into a cut or scape on the skin when a person handles infected animals or contaminated animal products like wool, hides, or hair. It mostly shows up on the head, neck, forearms, and hands. It's the most common form of anthrax infection, and it's also considered the least deadly.
Inhalation anthrax
Inhalation anthrax can occur when a person breathes in anthrax spores. It's the deadliest form of the disease. People who work in places such as wool mills, slaughterhouses, and tanneries may breathe in the spores when working with infected animals or contaminated animal products. Inhalation anthrax starts in the lymph nodes in the chest before spreading throughout the rest of the body.
Gastrointestinal anthrax
This type of anthrax can happen when a person eats raw or undercooked meat from an infected animal. It has rarely been reported in the United States. It affects the upper gastrointestinal tract (throat and esophagus), stomach, and intestines, causing a wide variety of symptoms.
Injection anthrax
Injection anthrax recently was identified in heroin-injecting drug users in northern Europe, but it hasn't been reported in the United States. Injection anthrax is similar to cutaneous anthrax and causes infection deep under the skin or in the muscle where the contaminated drug was injected.
Welder's anthrax
Welder's anthrax is a newly identified, rare disease that has been found in people who are welders or metal workers. Anthrax and welder's anthrax are similar, but they are caused by slightly different bacteria and affect different people. This disease causes severe pneumonia and can be fatal. If you are a welder or metalworker and you develop fever and chills with sudden cough, chest pain, difficulty breathing, or coughing up blood, see a healthcare provider immediately.
Symptoms
The symptoms of anthrax depend on the type of infection. Symptoms show up anywhere from one day to more than two months after you're exposed to the bacteria that cause anthrax. If you don't get proper treatment, all types of anthrax have the potential to spread through your body and cause severe illness and death.
Cutaneous anthrax
Symptoms include:
- A group of itchy, small blisters or bumps
- Painless sore commonly on the face, neck, arms, or hand that has a black center
- Sore appears after the bumps have gone down
- Large amount of swelling around the sore
- For injection anthrax, infected sores (abscesses) deep under the skin or muscle at the injection site
Inhalation anthrax
Symptoms include:
- Fever and chills
- Heavy sweats
- Chest pain, cough, or shortness of breath
- Confusion or dizziness
- Nausea, vomiting, or stomach pains
- Headache or body aches
- Extreme tiredness
Gastrointestinal anthrax
Symptoms include:
- Fever and chills
- Swelling of neck or neck glands
- Sore throat, hoarseness, and pain when swallowing
- Nausea and vomiting, especially bloody vomiting
- Diarrhea or bloody diarrhea
- Headache
- Red face and red eyes
- Stomach pain and swelling
- Fainting
Risk factors
Most people will never be exposed to anthrax. However, there are jobs, hobbies, and activities that can put some people at higher risk of exposure.
Prevention
If someone has been exposed to the bacteria that causes anthrax, doctors may recommend anthrax vaccine, or they may recommend taking certain antibiotics to prevent anthrax from developing.
Diagnosing anthrax
If you've been exposed to anthrax, see a healthcare provider immediately and explain how you may have been exposed. It's important to get medical care as quickly as possible to have the best chances for full recovery. Doctors can prescribe antibiotics to prevent you from getting sick, or as treatment if you're already sick.
There is no test to find out if you have been exposed to anthrax. Public health departments will have to do an investigation to see if and how you were exposed.