Anthrax

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Definition

Anthrax is a sometimes deadly infection caused by the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. This bacterium is housed in a spore — a cell that's dormant, but may become active in the right conditions. Anthrax usually affects livestock, but it also infects humans. Humans can become infected when handling products of infected animals, or if exposed to anthrax that's used as a biological weapon — such as when anthrax spores were deliberately spread in powder-containing envelopes through the U.S. postal system in 2001.

Anthrax infection can occur through a wound in the skin, by ingesting it or by inhaling it. Symptoms depend on which way you're infected and range from a sore on the skin to nausea and vomiting to shock. Early treatment with antibiotics can cure most anthrax infections spread through the skin and many of those spread by ingestion. Inhaled anthrax is the most difficult to treat and is often fatal.

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