LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Anthrax: Animals
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Anthrax is most common in areas where people raise livestock and where public health programs are lax. Animals get anthrax by grazing on soils contaminated with anthrax spores. Anthrax in people is usually the result of a work-related exposure to infected animals or contaminated animal products.
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Anthrax is a sometimes deadly infection caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. This bacterium is housed in a spore — a cell that's dormant, but may become active in the right conditions. Anthrax usually affects livestock, but it ... infects humans. Humans can become infected when handling products of infected animals, or if exposed to anthrax that's used as a biological weapon — such as when anthrax spores were deliberately spread in powder-containing envelopes through the U.S. postal system in 2001.
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Anthrax skin sores are diagnosed by their typical appearance. Knowing that a person had contact with animals or was in an area where other people developed anthrax ... helps a doctor make the diagnosis. Anthrax bacteria are easily recognized under a microscope in samples from skin or body fluids. Also, the bacteria may be grown in culture. Blood tests can be used to detect fragments of bacterial DNA or antibodies to one of the bacterial toxins. In a person with pulmonary anthrax, the bacteria are sometimes, but not always, present in the sputum.
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Anthrax infection is rare but not remarkable in herbivores such as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, and antelopes. Anthrax can be found globally. It is more common in developing countries or countries without veterinary public health programs. Certain regions of the world (South and Central America, Southern and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East) report more anthrax in animals than others.
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Anthrax would be more prevalent except that most farmers and livestock owners act responsibly in caring for sick animals and disposing of dead animals. It is not healthy for anyone to leave dead carcasses lie in the fields for the vultures! When an animal has been sick and then dies, the body should be immediately transported to a veterinary pathology laboratory, or to a rendering plant. Proper rendering and cooking is designed to destroy all infective bacteria including anthrax spores. Farmers giving care to suspected cases should wear protective masks, clothing, boots and gloves. If people are not properly protected, they should not contact the sick animal!
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Anthrax is not known to spread from person-to-person. Anthrax is not passed through casual contact, such as sharing office space with a person with anthrax or living in the same building. Anthrax can be obtained by handling products from infected animals and by breathing in anthrax spores from infected animal products, such as wool and hides. Gastrointestinal anthrax can occur by eating meat that is contaminated with the spores.
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