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Anthrax: Diseases
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Anthrax has recently been the topic of several news articles addressing concerns about vaccinating soldiers in the US military, bioterrorism threats and naturally occurring disease outbreaks in cattle. For instance, following sudden cattle deaths, anthrax has been diagnosed on five farms in Manitoba with about 25 deaths, on two farms in Minnesota with about 15 deaths and in 17 North Dakota herds with approximately 100 deaths. Other deaths have been recently reported in South Dakota and Nebraska. While deaths from anthrax occur sporadically ever year, these outbreaks in the Midwest are somewhat unusual. The purpose of this article will be review anthrax primarily as it occurs cattle so that livestock owners may be aware of the signs and risk factors of anthrax in cattle.
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Anthrax is one of the oldest recorded diseases of grazing animals such as sheep and cattle and is believed to be the Sixth Plague mentioned in the Book of Exodus in the Bible[1]. Anthrax is ... mentioned by Greek and Roman authors such as Homer (in The Iliad), Virgil (Georgics), and Hippocrates. Anthrax can also infect humans, usually as the result of coming into contact with infected animal hides, fur, wool ("Woolsorter's disease"), leather or contaminated soil. Anthrax ("siberian ulcer" [2]) is now fairly rare (a few to no cases per year in the developed world) in humans although it still occasionally occurs in ruminants, such as cattle, sheep, goats, camels, wild buffalo, and antelopes.
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Anthrax can infect all domestic animals, especially cattle, sheep, goats, swine and less frequently horses and still less frequently dogs, especially in the months of June, July and August. The blood is altered, and there is a disposition to gangrene, especially in the spleen. Anthrax disease is characterized by acute septicemia so that no matter where it begins in the body, (mouth, tongue, stomach, lungs) it rapidly spreads throughout the body. It is only the skin form that gives grace because it spreads more slowly. Skin lesions consistently have a black center to a dark non-healing ulcer.4 It is the black center in the ulcer that gives the disease its name, for "anthrax" means coal in Latin.
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Anthrax can infect humans in three ways. The most common is infection through the skin, which causes an ugly sore that usually goes away without treatment. Humans and animals can ingest anthrax from carcasses of dead animals that have been contaminated with anthrax. Ingestion of anthrax can cause serious, sometimes fatal disease. The most deadly form is inhalation anthrax. If the spores of anthrax are inhaled, they migrate to lymph glands in the chest where they proliferate, spread, and produce toxins that often cause death.
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Anthrax is caused by bacteria that are a rod shaped organism, Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax is a non-motile organism between 1-5 micrometers in length. Upon exposure to air, anthrax forms a spore, which can become airborne to cause infection to exposed individuals. Anthrax spore can cause disease by coming in contact with abraded skin or wounds; inhalation; or ingestion. As anthrax reproduces, it releases three virulence factors: lethal factor, edema factor and antiphagocytic factor. Each of these substances enhances the destruction of cells and resists the immune system.
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Anthrax is considered one of the most dangerous and lethal agents for a bioterrorist attack for several reasons. Anthrax spores can be easily sprayed into the air, and, because everyone breathes, taken up by a large percentage of the population. Also anthrax spores, more so than spores from other bacteria, are very stable for long periods of time in the environment. Finally, anthrax spores, when inhaled, are phenomenally deadly — about 95 percent of people who inhale enough spores, and are not treated quickly with antibiotics, will die. Although not typical, the time from exposure to anthrax spores to symptoms of anthrax disease can be as short as one day!
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