Anthrax (Print Version)

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

Start Here

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/

Overviews

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

Diagnosis/Symptoms

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

Treatment

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

Prevention/Screening

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

Related Issues

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

Pictures & Photographs

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

Tutorials

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

Clinical Trials

ClinicalTrials.gov: Anthrax(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Anthrax%22

Journal Articles

References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

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

Organizations

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

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

Teenagers

Anthrax(Nemours Foundation) - http://kidshealth.org/teen/misc/anthrax.html

Women

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

You may also be interested in these MedlinePlus related pages:

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