Anthrax
Infection caused bythe bacterium Bacillus anthracis
incubation period : one day to two months
4 forms
skin, lungs, intestinal and intestinal
skin form : blister with surrouding swelling → painless ulcer with a black center
Lung form : fever, chest pain, shortness of breath
Intestinal form : diarrhoea/dysentry, abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting
Injection form : at the site of injection - fever, abscess at the site of injection
The cutaneous form is called Hide porter's disease
risk factor : working with anthrax infected animals or animal products. No direct spread between people
Diagnosis by finding antibodies in the blood, culture and sensitivity test of sample from the infected site.
Management :
vaccination, ciprofloxacin, leofloxacin, doxycycline, antitoxin if available
Prognosis
Skin infections represent more than 95% of cases. Without treatment, the risk of death from skin anthrax is 24%. For intestinal infection, the risk of death is 25 to 75%, respiratory anthrax has a mortality of 50 to 80%, even with treatment.
In plant-eating animals, infection occurs when they eat or breathe in the spores while grazing. Animals may become infected by eating infected animals.
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