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By: Brittany Horan
Large, aerobic, gram-positive, non-
motile, encapsulated, chain forming, rod shaped that form
oval spores. It is a bacterium of the genus Bacillus.
About 1-9 micrometers in size.
Anthrax is found worldwide, but is most common in areas where people raise
livestock, and where public health programs are located. Materials
contaminated with anthrax spores can reach any country in the world
Workers who are exposed to dead animals, and animal products from countries where anthrax is common can become infected.
Anthrax can enter the human body through:
Lungs (Inhalation)
Intestines (Ingestion)
Skin ( Cutaneous)
A person breathes in organisms and develops a severe respiratory infection. The person will
have a cold or flu-like symptoms for several days followed by a severe respiratory collapse. It can
rarely be treated, and is highly fatal.
Inhalation anthrax widens the mediastinal
Most often caused by eating anthrax-infected meat. Causes gastrointestinal
difficulty, vomiting of blood, severe diarrhea, acute inflammation of the intestinal tract, and loss of appetite.
Ingestion process
On the skin anthrax shows up as a boil-like skin lesion that eventually forms an ulcer with a black center. Cutaneous anthrax
infections normally do not cause pain. It is the least fatal form of anthrax.
Anthrax skin lesion
Bacillus anthracis bacteria naturally produce endospores which rest in the soil and can
survive for decades. Bacillus Anthracis may be inoculated into a wound, inhaled, or ingested. It has at least 89 known strains. The strains are
different in presence and activity of various genes, determining their virulence and
production of antigens and toxins.
Anthrax is diagnosed by isolating Bacillus Anthracis from the blood, skin lesions, respiratory secretions, or by measuring specific antibodies in the blood of people with suspected cases. Patients with symptoms compatible with anthrax, should confirm the diagnosis by obtaining the appropriate laboratory specimens based on the clinical form of anthrax suspected.
To treat anthrax, antibiotics should be taken. Such as penicillin, and others which are active against Gram-positive bacteria.
Penicillin