Among the rare ailments that mainly target animals as the victims, Anthrax is considered to be a significant one. It does not affect human beings directly. However most kinds of anthrax, if not identified and treated at an early stage can prove to be fatal.

Cause of Anthrax

It is a kind of bacterial infection. An organism called Bacillus anthracis is responsible for its occurrence. In the herbivorous wild and domestic beasts, like the sheep and cows, it happens the most. The nations where the disease can be found are Africa, Asia, southern and Eastern Europe and southern provinces of the USA . These bacteria lie dormant and survive in the environment like the land. When the domestic animals come in contact with the soil, the spores pass onto their body parts like lungs, skin or the intestine. As a result the animal might contract the disease. When the human beings consume the meat of this diseased animal he/she may be afflicted with the anthrax virus.

Anthrax Symptoms

The symptoms vary according to the type of Anthrax. In cases of Cutaneous anthrax, skin itching is regarded as the first symptom. Thereafter a skin rash forms, which resembles a bump. It can eventually spread in the body and cause blood poisoning. The typical signs of Inhalational anthrax are throat pipe infection and tissue damage. It can also induce weakness, chest pain and fever. It can turn fatal if left unattended for long. Intestinal anthrax can lead to vomiting, nausea, fever coupled with lack of appetite. The symptoms of this variant of anthrax only intensifies with time.

Anthrax Types

This disease has three variants. The first one is called cutaneous anthrax. As a matter of fact, 95% of the Anthrax cases fall under this category. People who take care of animals infected with this ailment face the threat of infection. At the onset of this kind of anthrax there is severe itching and this variety is recognized by boil like features being formed on the heads, forearms or hands. In most cases this lesion subsides by six days and the ulcer has a black drying central area, which characterizes this kind of anthrax. This kind requires immediate medical attention as it leads to blood poisoning.

The second type is called Inhalational anthrax. It spreads from inhaling the germ. Often this kind of anthrax is not diagnosed or misdiagonised and mistreated for flu due to the flu like characteristics which it depicts. In its advanced stage this form of cancer may cause respiratory distress and turn out to be fatal.

The last variant is called Intestinal anthrax. It occurs in extremely unusual cases of food poisoning. If someone eats the infected animal’s meat it may happen. It can be deadly.

How Can Anthrax Are Treated

If the infection is detected in its initial stages, treating anthrax becomes easier. Usually antibiotic medicines are applied for treatment. People infected with this disease have rare chances of transmitting it to a fellow human so the requirement to quarantine patients does not arise. The best defense against anthrax is vaccination. However, vaccination should be administered much before the chances of contamination arise. One well known vaccine is BioThrax. It is known as AVA also. Yearly booster doses of the medicine are needed to keep the immunity intact after first dose.