Anthrax is a disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, a microbe that lives in soil. Many people know about it from the 2001 bioterror attacks. In the attacks, someone purposely spread anthrax through the U.S. mail. This killed five people and made 22 sick.
Anthrax affects farm animals more often than people. But it can cause three forms of disease in people. They are:
- Cutaneous, which affects the skin. People with cuts or open sores can get it if they touch the bacteria.
- Inhalation, which affects the lungs. You can get this if you breathe in spores of the bacteria.
- Gastrointestinal, which affects the digestive system. You can get it by eating infected meat.
Antibiotics often cure anthrax if it is diagnosed early. But many people don't know they have anthrax until it is too late to treat. A vaccine to prevent anthrax is available for people in the military and others at high risk.
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
-
Anthrax(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/anthrax/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/anthraxspanish/htm/index.htm
- Anthrax(National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases) - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/topics/anthrax/overview.htm
- Questions and Answers about Anthrax(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/faq/
- Anthrax(Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research) - http://www.fda.gov/cber/vaccine/anthrax.htm
- Anthrax(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/anthrax/DS00422/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
- Emergency Preparedness and Response: Anthrax(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/index.asp
- Anthrax Q & A: Anthrax and Influenza(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/faq/flu.asp
- Anthrax Q & A: Diagnosis(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/faq/diagnosis.asp
- Anthrax Q & A: Laboratory Testing(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/faq/labtesting.asp
- Anthrax Q & A: Signs and Symptoms(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/faq/signs.asp
- Anthrax: Treatment(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/treatment/
- Questions and Answers for Consumers on Penicillin G Procaine(Center for Drug Evaluation and Research) - http://www.fda.gov/cder/drug/infopage/penG_doxy/QA_penG.htm
- Anthrax Q & A: Preventive Therapy(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/faq/preventive.asp
- Anthrax Vaccine: What You Need to Know(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - Links to PDF - http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-anthrax.pdf
- How to Recognize and Handle a Suspicious Package or Envelope(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/mail/suspiciouspackages.asp
- Mail Irradiation(Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Air and Radiation) - http://www.epa.gov/radiation/sources/mail_irrad.html
- Anthrax eTool: Protecting the Worksite against Terrorism(Occupational Safety and Health Administration) - http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/anthrax/
- Anthrax Q & A: Anthrax and Animal Hides(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/faq/pelt.asp
- Anthrax Q & A: Risk(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/faq/risk.asp
- Respirators for Public Health Emergencies(Food and Drug Administration) - http://www.fda.gov/consumer/updates/respirators061107.html
- Anthrax(Logical Images) - http://www.visualdxhealth.com/atlas/webOnly:Anthrax.htm
- Cutaneous Anthrax(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/anthrax-images/cutaneous.asp
- Inhalation Anthrax(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/anthrax-images/inhalational.asp
-
Anthrax(Patient Education Institute) - Requires Flash Player - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorials/anthrax/htm/index.htm
Also available in Spanish http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/spanish/tutorials/anthraxspanish/htm/index.htm
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Anthrax(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Anthrax%22
- Article: Anthrax investigation. Six anthrax science questions the FBI has yet... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18719255&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Anthrax investigation. FBI discusses microbial forensics--but key questions remain unanswered. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18719254&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Anthrax case ignites new forensics field. - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18704053&tool=MedlinePlus
- Anthrax -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=(anthrax[majr]+OR+anthrax+vaccine[majr]+AND+humans[mh])+AND+english[la]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt]+OR+case+reports[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Anthrax Vaccine Immunization Program(Dept. of Defense) - http://www.anthrax.osd.mil/
-
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - http://www.cdc.gov/
Also available in Spanish http://www.cdc.gov/spanish/
- National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/
- Children and Anthrax: A Fact Sheet for Parents(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/anthrax/parentsfactsheet.asp
- What Is Anthrax?(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/infection/anthrax.html
- Anthrax(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/teen/misc/anthrax.html
- Guidelines for Pregnant Women Who Have Been Exposed to Anthrax but Do Not Have Symptoms(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) - http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/bd/anthrax.htm
- Biodefense and Bioterrorism - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/biodefenseandbioterrorism.html
- Infections - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/infections.html
- Poisoning, Toxicology, Environmental Health - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/poisoningtoxicologyenvironmentalhealth.html
The primary NIH organization for research on Anthrax is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases - http://www.niaid.nih.gov/
Anthrax - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/anthrax.html