MWAMI COLLEGE OF NURSING

OCCUPATIONAL
HEALTH AND SAFETY
OCCUPATIONAL DISEASES AND
HAZARDS
ZOONESES; ANTHRAX
 GENERAL OBJECTIVE
 At the end of the session third year students,
should be able to demonstrate an
understanding on Anthrax disease and its
management.
 SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES
 At the end of the session third year students,
should be able to;
 Define anthrax
 state the modes of transmission
 Identify the types of anthrax
 Explain the pathophysiology of anthrax
 Discuss the management of anthrax
 Outline the preventive measures of anthrax
 INTRODUCTION
 Occupational health is the multidisciplinary
approach to the recognition, diagnosis,
treatment, and prevention of illnesses, injuries,
and other adverse health conditions resulting
from hazardous environmental exposures in the
workplace, the home, and the community.
 In this presentation we are going to look at one
of the common occupational health diseases
ANTHRAX.
 INTRODUCTION CONT’
 Primarily Anthrax is a disease of domesticated and
wild animals i.e. Herbivores such as cows, sheep,
horses, goat etc. therefore human transmission is
rare.
 The natural reservoir is soil therefore it does not
depend on the animal as reservoir making it hard to
eradicate.
 Anthrax also called malignant pustule, malignant
edema, Woolsorter's disease, or Ragpicker's disease
 INTRODUCTION CONT’
 It is a zoonotic disease caused by the bacteria
Basillus anthracis which is a spore forming
Gram+ bacilli
 It is transmitted by spores of the bacilli which
are shed in the terminal stage of infection
hence spread by a dying or dead host.
 Causative agent may survive for long time in
the environment
 INTRODUCTION CONT’
 The name anthrax comes from the Greek word
coal because of the black skin lesions
developed by victims of a cutaneous anthrax
infection.
 Anthrax is one of the oldest diseases of
grazing animals such as sheep and cattle.
 DEFINITION
 Anthrax is an acute disease caused by the
bacteria Basillus anthracis
 It can occur in three forms; skin, lungs, and
intestinal anthrax.
 Symptom onset occurs between one day to
over two months after the infection is
contracted ( CDC. 23 July 2014).
 MODES OF TRANSMISSION
Direct transmission
 Through cutaneous contact with infected animals
or infected animal products or soil harboring the
bacteria
Indirect transmission
 Through ingestion of contaminated meat or
animal products
Airborne transmission
 Through inhalation of air contaminated by spores
 TYPES OF ANTHRAX
There are three forms of anthrax
 TYPES OF ANTHRAX
1.Cutaneous Anthrax
 Skin which the most common. Spores enter
skin through small lesions.
 The spores germinate and multiply at the site
of entry and forms localized lesions on face,
neck hands. This form accounts to 90% of
anthrax cases
 TYPES OF ANTHRAX CONT’
2.Inhalational Anthrax
 Spores are inhaled.
 Inhalation of dust or filaments from wool form
infected animals.
 When these spore are inhaled, they germinate in
suitable conditions.
 The immune system destroys some spores while
others germinate in 1 to 60days producing more
bacteria.
TYPES CONT’
 TYPES CONT’
 The bacteria produces toxins that cause
hemorrhaging and tissue decay.

 This type is difficulty to treat and is fatal.

 TYPES CONT’
 3. Gastrointestinal Anthrax
 GI anthrax may follow after the consumption
of contaminated, poorly cooked meat.
 There are two forms pf Gi anthrax
 Oral-pharyngeal and abdominal
 Abdominal anthrax is more common than
pharyngeal
 PATHOPHYSIOLOGY
 The bacteria known as bacillus Anthracis
produce dominant spores (not active) that can
live in the environment like soil for a long
time.
 When the spores get into the body of an
animal or person (an area rich with waters,
sugars and other nutrients),
 PATHOPHYSIOLOGY CONT’
 They become activated and turn into active
growing cells.
 When they become active, the bacteria can
multiply, spread out into the body, produce
toxins(poisons) and cause severe illness and
even death.
 CLINICAL PRESENTATION

1. Cutaneous Anthrax
 The infection usually begins 1-5days after
contact.
 It begins as a small, pruritic, non-painful
papule at inoculation site.
 Papule develops into hemorrhagic vesicle and
ruptures then forms a slow-healing painless
ulcer.
LESSION CAUSED BY ANTHRAX
 CLINICAL FEATURES CONT’
Inhalation anthrax
 Flu/cold like symptoms, cough, chest
discomfort, shortness of breath, tiredness and
muscle aches.
Gastrointestinal anthrax
 Initial signs include;
 Nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting blood, severe
diarrhea, lesions and soreness in throat,
difficulty swallowing
 MEDICAL MANAGEMENT
INVESTIGATIONS
 Diagnosis can be confirmed by finding
antibodies or the toxin in:
 Blood
 Stool
 spinal top
 Endoscopy
 Chest x-ray, CT scan can be done
 TREATMENT

Adults
 Ciprofloxacin 500mg PO BD
 Doxycycline 100mg PO BD (7-10days)
Children
 Ciprofloxacin 10-15mg/kg
 Pregnant women
 Ciprofloxacin 500mg PO BD
 NURSING MANAGEMNET
 The nurse must adhere strictly to the principles
of Aseptic technique in the care of the patient
 Specimen collected as ordered
 Symptomatic measures are employed for
fever, inflammation, and pain.
 In cases of severe cases involving the
respiratory system, oxygen therapy is needed
 NURSING MANAGEMNET
Nursing Intervention
 Observations
 Vital signs
 Position
 IVFs
 ISOLATION- use of aseptic techniques like
wearing face masks handling patients with
pulmonary anthrax, wearing gloves in handling
patients
 NURSING MANGEMENT CONT’
 IEC: advice the patient and family that anthrax
is not transmitted person to person; one must
come into contact with the spores

 WHAT ELSE CAN YOU ADVICE THE

PATIENT?
 PREVENTION

Control measures include;

 Disposal of animal carcasses by burning or by
deep burial
 decontamination (usually by autoclaving) of
animal products
 Protective clothing and gloves for handling
potentially infected materials
 PREVENTION CONT’
 Active immunization of domestic animals with
live attenuated vaccines.
 Persons with high occupational risk should be
immunized
 COMPLICATIONS
 Meningitis
 Haemorrhagic meningitis
 Septic shock (Sepsis Anthrax)
 Plural effusion
 Cutaneous ulcer
 Death.
 SUMMERY
 Anthrax is a zoonotic disease that is caused by
the bacteria Bacillus anthracis .
 Anthrax is in three forms, namely cutaneous,
inhalational and gastrointestinal anthrax .
 EVALUATION

1.What is anthrax?
2.Describe the pathophysiology
3.State the modes of transmission of anthrax
4.State the three forms of anthrax
5.Describe the clinical features of anthrax
6.What is the treatment of anthrax
7.Mention the preventive measures of anthrax
 REFERENCES
• CDC. 23 July 2014. Archived from the original
on 11 May 2016. Retrieved 14 May 2016
 THE END

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Thank you for your participation

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