| Washington University School of Medicine |
Environmental Health & Safety |
CDC- Facts about Anthrax
| 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 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. |
| For people with suspected anthrax disease, laboratory testing is essential
to diagnosis. Tests may include:
|
| Antibiotics are an effective treatment if the disease is diagnosed early on; but anthrax can be fatal if left untreated. |
| The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to work with state and local health departments, law enforcement officials, and other federal agencies to investigate incidents of possible anthrax exposures around the United States. In Atlanta, CDC officials continue to work out of a 24-hour Operations Center. The Operations Center staff is also responding to hundreds of calls each day from the public. CDC has dispatched more than three dozen employees to Florida, New York City, or Washington, D.C. More than 50 CDC laboratories have processed hundreds of specimens. |
More information on Anthrax and other Biological Agents
CDC Web Sites
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/Agent/Anthrax/Anthrax.asp http://www.bt.cdc.gov/DocumentsApp/Anthrax/10122001Handle/10122001Handle.aspUnited States Postal Service Web Sites
http://www.usps.com/news/_pdf/poster.pdf http://www.usps.com/news/2001/press/pr01_1022gsa.htm
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