5. Primary Hosts
• The primary hosts of Anthrax
warm blooded animals such as:
Humans
Cattle
Sheep
6. Ways Humans can Get it
• Cutaneous (Skin)
– Contact with infected
tissues or animal fibers
• Inhalational
– Tanning hides,
processing wool or bone
• Gastrointestinal
– Undercooked meat
7. Where Humans can get it
• Tanneries
• Textile mills
• Slaughterhouses
10. Cutaneous (Skin) Anthrax
• A form of Anthrax -
• 95% of all cases
• Incubation: 2 to 3 days
• Spores enter skin through open wound
• Skin infection begins as a raised itchy bump
11. Gastrointestinal Anthrax
• Incubation: 2 to 5 days
• Case fatality rate: 25 to 75%
• has not been documented in
U.S.
• nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting, fever
followed by abdominal pain and vomiting of
blood
12. Inhalational Anthrax
• Incubation: 1 to 7 days
• Usually Fatal
• resemble a common cold – sore throat, mild
fever, muscle aches and malaise
• Then severe breathing problems and shock
13. History of Anthrax
• United States 2001 – Postal Services
– 13 reported cases
• The largest reported food-borne epidemic
was in Zimbabwe, in the 1970s.
– From eating animals that died of Anthrax
14. Ways to Treat it
• Ciprofloxacin, doxycycline and penicillin
• Course of treatment: 60 days
16. Vaccination
• People who are at risk include
– Livestock handlers
– Military personnel
• Vaccine/Immunity Shots
– Five injections over 18-week period
17. Interesting Facts (Bioterrorism)
• 100 lbs of spores
– Urban area of 5 million
– Estimated impact
• 250,000 cases of anthrax
• 100,000 deaths
• 220 lbs of spores
– Upwind of Wash D.C.
– Estimated impact
• 130,000 to 3 million deaths
18. Some Interesting Facts
• Thousands of anthrax spores are required for
human infection, of which all can fit in the
area of a single pinhead.
• Anthrax is a seasonal disease that is controlled
by temperature fluctuations, amount of rain
received, and soil type.
• 143 nations around the world have signed a
treaty banning the use of weapons loaded
with anthrax spores.
