Anthrax Clinic

In nature, Anthrax is generally a disease found in common
livestock animals like sheep, cattle and horses.
While it has high mortality rates in infected animals of
these types, human infections are very rare. Human fatalities
are even more rare. Before the 2001 events,
the last human fatality from anthrax was in 1976.
In humans, the disease takes three forms: cutaneous,
intestinal, and pulmonary. Cutaneous anthrax involves
skin lesions which are surrounded by a ring of fl uid-fi lled
vessels. Most of these lesions resolve themselves, but
fatal infections occur in about 20% of cases.
Intestinal anthrax occurs after eating contaminated
meat. Symptoms for this type of anthrax can begin with
malaise/upset stomach, progress to severe fevers and,
in many cases, lead to shock, coma and death.
Pulmonary anthrax is caused by inhaling anthrax
spores. That’s why it is also called inhalation anthrax.
When this occurs naturally, it is usually seen in workers
who handle infected hides or fur. The onset with this
type of anthrax is slower.

First comes mild chest pain and coughing. These symptoms
can then disappear during an incubation period
that can last from a few hours to three days. This period
is followed by severe respiratory distress as the system
goes into septic shock. Before the successful treatment
of some anthrax patients with strong antibiotics,
doctors thought that pulmonary anthrax was invariably
fatal. It remains fatal around 75% of the time, depending
on how quickly antibiotics are administered..