Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by bacteria known as Bacillus anthracis.
Anthrax can be found naturally in soil and commonly affects domestic and wild animals around the world. Although it is rare in the United States, people can get sick with anthrax if they come in contact with infected animals or contaminated animal products. Anthrax can cause severe illness in both humans and animals.
People get infected when anthrax spores get inside the body and they “activate.” When they become active, the bacteria can multiply, spread out in the body, produce toxins, and cause severe illness. This can happen when people breathe in spores, eat food or drink water that is contaminated with spores, or get spores in a cut or scrape in the skin.
There are four types of anthrax and the type of illness a person develops depends on how anthrax enters the body. Typically, anthrax gets into the body through the skin, lungs, or gastrointestinal system. All types of anthrax can eventually spread throughout the body and cause death if they are not treated with antibiotics.
Cutaneous anthrax is the most common form of anthrax infection, and it is also considered to be the least dangerous. Without treatment, up to 20% of people with cutaneous anthrax die. However, with proper treatment, almost all patients with cutaneous anthrax survive.
Inhalation anthrax is considered to be the most deadly form of anthrax. Infection usually develops within a week after exposure, but it can take up to 2 months. Without treatment, inhalation anthrax is almost always fatal. However, with aggressive treatment, about 55% of patients survive.
When a person eats raw or undercooked meat from an animal infected with anthrax, they can develop gastrointestinal anthrax. Gastrointestinal anthrax has rarely been reported in the United States. Without treatment, more than half of patients with gastrointestinal anthrax die. However, with proper treatment, 60% of patients survive.
Recently, another type of anthrax infection has been identified in heroin-injecting drug users in northern Europe. This type of infection has never been reported in the United States.
During the 1800s, doctors saw cases of anthrax but did not yet have a diagnosis for the disease. During this time, the organism that causes anthrax had not yet been discovered, but doctors had noticed a link between the disease and the animal hair industry. Because of this, the disease became known as “wool sorters disease.”
In 1877 Robert Koch studied Bacillus anthracis, from these studies, he was able to determine the life cycle of the anthrax bacteria, and was able to demonstrate what became known as Koch’s postulates, which demonstrate a causal relationship between a specific microorganism and a disease.
Louis Pasteur took Koch’s work a step further, trying to fully prove how anthrax was spread and how it made people or animals sick. Pasteur also worked to create a vaccine for anthrax. In his experiment, Pasteur gave 25 animals two shots of an anthrax vaccine he had created with weakened anthrax bacteria. After he gave both rounds of the vaccine to these animals, he injected them with live anthrax bacteria. He also injected live bacteria into 25 other animals that had not been vaccinated. Each of the vaccinated animals survived, while the 25 that were not vaccinated died.
In the 1950s the first anthrax vaccine for humans was created. This anthrax vaccine was tested in a group of goat hair mill workers. This study determined that the vaccine was 92.5% effective in preventing cutaneous anthrax. After the study, the vaccine was made available to people working in goat hair processing mills in the United States. In 1970 an updated human anthrax vaccine was released, replacing the 1950s vaccine. This is essentially the same vaccine used today.
Anthrax Vaccine Adsorbed (AVA) protects against anthrax. It does not contain any anthrax bacteria and cannot give people anthrax. It is not typically available to the general public. It is approved for use in three groups of adults 18 to 65 years of age who may be at risk of coming in contact with anthrax because of their job. To build up protection against anthrax, these groups should get 5 shots of anthrax vaccine over 18 months. To stay protected, they should get annual boosters.
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