Of the rare ailments that mainly target both humans and animals as the victims, Anthrax is considered to be among the most dangerous. In most cases the disease is fatal for animals. However, it does not affect the human beings directly and is always transmitted via animals.
Anthrax is a kind of bacterial infection. An organism called Bacillus anthracis is responsible for its occurrence. In the herbivorous wild and domestic beasts, like the sheep and cows, it is a common occurrence. The nations where the disease can be found are Africa, Asia, southern and Eastern Europe and southern provinces of the USA. This bacterium lies dormant in the land. When the domestic animals come in contact with the soil, the spores pass onto their body parts like lungs, skin or the intestine. This causes the animals to contract the disease.
This disease has three variants. The first one is called cutaneous anthrax. As a matter of fact, 95% of the Anthrax cases fall under this category. People who take care of animals infected with this ailment face the threat of infection if their animals are infected with cutaneous anthrax . The second type is called Inhalational anthrax.
This is a very infective disease that spreads from inhaling the germ. The last variant is called Intestinal anthrax. It is an extremely unusual case of food poisoning that happens in humans. If someone eats the infected animal’s meat it may happen. It can be deadly for the human who is afflicted by this disease.
The symptoms vary according to the type of Anthrax. In cases of cutaneous anthrax, skin itching is regarded as the first symptom. Thereafter a skin rash forms, which resembles a bump. It can eventually spread in the body and cause blood poisoning. The typical signs of Inhalational anthrax are throat pipe infection and tissue damage.
It can also induce weakness, chest pain and fever. It can turn fatal if left unattended for long. Intestinal anthrax can lead to vomiting, nausea, fever coupled with lack of appetite. The symptoms of this variant of anthrax only intensifies with time.
If the infection is detected in its initial stages, treating anthrax becomes easier. Usually antibiotic medicines are applied for treatment. People infected with this disease have rare chances of transmitting it to a fellow human so the requirement to quarantine patients does not arise. The best defense against anthrax is vaccination.
However, vaccination should be administered much before the chances of contamination arise. One well-known vaccine is BioThrax. It is known as AVA also. Yearly booster doses of the medicine are needed to keep the immunity intact after first dose is taken.
The germ of Anthrax can survive for a very long time in open atmosphere. To reduce the chances of future epidemics, anthrax infected zone needs to be cleaned with oxidizing agents. Materials like ethylene oxide or sodium hypochlorite based liquid bleaches can be used in this context. Chlorine dioxide is another product that can be used to kill the bacteria of anthrax in an area. An infected person’s dresses may contain the spores of the germ. Therefore, anti microbial wash is recommended for washing such clothes. The dead body of an anthrax-infected person may still contain the spores so it should be separated to stop the chances of contamination. The medical community is trying to develop newer medicines for this menace but early detection and use of the existing vaccines can work fine in combating this deadly malady.
