ANTHRAX

Submitted by
BILAL KHAN
2k19-AV-01
Submitted to
Dr. YAR MUHAMMAD JALBANI
Anthrax

 Introduction
Anthrax is a serious infectious disease caused by gram-positive, rod-shaped bacteria
known as Bacillus anthracis. Anthrax can be found naturally in soil and commonly affects
domestic and wild animals around the world.Thus it is zoonotic.

The bacteria make spores, which are a form of the bacteria that live in a protective shell. These
spores can survive for a long time, even years, in soil. One can get anthrax if spores get into the
body, break open and release the bacteria, which make toxins (poison) that harm anyone. The
greatest risk is to those who handle dead livestock such as farmers, vets and knackery workers.

 Mode of Transmission
Most people who get anthrax work with infected animals, or with animal products like wool or hide etc.
One could be exposed if the person/animal:

 Breathe in the spores

 Eat or drink something that’s tainted with the anthrax spores
 Touch something that has the spores on it and they get into the body through cuts in skin.
 Inject tainted heroin (known as “injection anthrax,” it has happened only in northern Europe so
far)
 Grazing animals may become infected when they ingest sufficient quantities of these
spores from the soil.
 In addition to direct transmission, biting flies may mechanically transmit B anthracis spores
from one animal to another. The latter follows when there have been rains encouraging a
high fly hatch and reporting has been delayed on the index ranch, such that there are 4–6
moribund or dead cattle for the flies to feed on.
 Feed contaminated with bone or other meal from infected animals can serve as a source
of infection for livestock, as can hay muddy with contaminated soil.
 Raw or poorly cooked contaminated meat is a source of infection for zoo carnivores and
omnivores; anthrax resulting from contaminated meat consumption has been reported in
pigs, dogs, cats, mink, wild carnivores, and people

 Epidemiology
Anthrax has been reported from nearly every continent and is most common in agricultural
regions with neutral or alkaline, calcareous soils. In these regions, anthrax periodically emerges

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as epizootics among susceptible domesticated and wild animals. These epizootics are usually
associated with drought, flooding, or soil disturbance, and many years may pass between
outbreaks. During interepidemic periods, sporadic cases may help maintain soil contamination.
But it is now absent from some countries in western Europe, north Africa, and east of the
Mississippi in the USA.

 Pathogenesis
After wound inoculation, ingestion, or inhalation, spores infect macrophages, germinate, and
proliferate. In cutaneous and GI infection, proliferation can occur at the site of infection and in the
lymph nodes draining the site of infection. Lethal toxin and edema toxin are produced by B
anthracis and respectively cause local necrosis and extensive edema, which are frequent
characteristics of the disease. As the bacteria multiply in the lymph nodes, toxemia progresses
and bacteremia may ensue. With the increase in toxin production, the potential for disseminated
tissue destruction and organ failure increases. After vegetative bacilli are discharged from an
animal after death (by carcass bloating, scavengers, or postmortem examination), the oxygen
content of air induces sporulation. Spores are relatively resistant to extremes of temperature,
chemical disinfection, and dessication.

  Signs and Symptoms

Typically, the incubation period is 3–7 days (range 1−14 days). The clinical course ranges from
peracute to chronic. The peracute form (common in cattle and sheep) is characterized by sudden
onset and a rapidly fatal course. Staggering, dyspnea, trembling, collapse, a few convulsive
movements, and death may occur in cattle, sheep, or goats with only a brief evidence of illness.

In acute anthrax of cattle and sheep, there is an abrupt fever and a period of excitement followed
by depression, stupor, respiratory or cardiac distress, staggering, convulsions, and death. Often,
the course of disease is so rapid that illness is not observed and animals are found dead. Body
temperature may reach 107°F (41.5°C), rumination ceases, milk production is materially reduced,
and pregnant animals may abort. There may be bloody discharges from the natural body
openings. Some infections are characterized by localized, subcutaneous, edematous swelling
that can be quite extensive.

Rigor mortis is frequently absent or incomplete. Dark blood may ooze from the mouth, nostrils,
and anus with marked bloating and rapid body decomposition. If the carcass is inadvertently
opened, septicemic lesions are seen. The blood is dark and thickened and fails to clot readily.
Hemorrhages of various sizes are common on the serosal surfaces of the abdomen and thorax
as well as on the epicardium and endocardium. Edematous, red-tinged effusions commonly are
present under the serosa of various organs, between skeletal muscle groups, and in the subcutis .

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  Post-mortem findings
Necropsy is discouraged because of the potential for blood spillage and vegetative cells to be
exposed to air, resulting in large numbers of spores being produced. Because of the rapid pH
change after death and decomposition, vegetative cells in an unopened carcass quickly die
without sporulating.Some of the post mortem findings are given below:

 Rapid putrefaction of the carcase.

 Bloody discharges from muzzle and anus. 
 Dark tarry blood that does not clot properly.
 Haemorrhages in subcutaneous tissues, serous membranes and viscera

 Diagnosis
diagnosis based on clinical signs alone is difficult. Confirmatory laboratory examination should be
attempted if anthrax is suspected. Because the vegetative cell is not robust and will not survive 3
days in transit, the optimal sample is a cotton swab dipped in the blood and allowed to dry. This
results in sporulation and the death of other bacteria and contaminants. For carcasses dead >3
days, either the nasal turbinates should be swabbed or turbinate samples removed .

Specific diagnostic tests include bacterial culture, PCR tests, and fluorescent antibody stains to
demonstrate the agent in blood films or tissues. Western blot and ELISA tests for antibody
detection are available in some reference laboratories. Lacking other tests, fixed blood smears
stained with Loeffler’s or MacFadean stains can be used and the capsule visualized; however,
this can result in ~20% false positives.

 Treatment
Treatment for anthrax is rarely possible as affected animals die quickly. However, high doses of
penicillin administered by a veterinarian may be effective in early cases. Vaccination against
anthrax is very effective with full protection taking about 10-14 days to develop after administration.

Management of anthrax in livestock includes quarantine of the affected herd, removal of the herd
from the contaminated pasture (if possible), vaccination of healthy livestock, treatment of livestock
with clinical signs of disease, disposal of contaminated carcasses (preferably by burning), and
incineration of bedding.