What are the symptoms of anthrax?
They vary depending on how the disease was contracted, but symptoms usually occur within seven days. Cutaneous: About 95 percent of anthrax infections occur when the bacterium enters a cut or abrasion on the skin, such as when handling contaminated wool, hides, leather or hair products of infected animals. It begins as a raised itchy bump that resembles an insect bite, but soon turns into a painless ulcer, usually one to three centimeters in diameter, usually with a black center in the middle. Lymph glands in the adjacent area may swell. About 20 percent of untreated cases result in death. The employee at NBC who contracted anthrax has cutaneous anthrax.
What makes anthrax dangerous is that the symptoms are often difficult to distinguish from other, less serious illnesses such as the flu or food poisoning. A person infected with anthrax will usually show symptoms within two to seven (2-7) days after the initial exposure. An infection by “inhalation” or breathing anthrax into the lungs can start out like a common cold before more severe symptoms such as breathing problems and shock are encountered. An infection by “gastrointestinal” or ingesting contaminated food is characterized by inflammation of the intestinal tract, causing nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting and fever, and leading to vomiting of blood and severe diarrhea. A “cutaneous” or skin infection can look like an insect bite at first but within days may develop into an ulcer with a characteristic black center (from which anthrax gets its name). If this type of anthrax infection is left untreated it can cause blood poisoning.
Symptoms of disease vary depending on how the disease was contracted, but symptoms usually occur within 7 days. Cutaneous: Most (about 95%) anthrax infections occur when the bacterium enters a cut or abrasion on the skin, such as when handling contaminated wool, hides, leather or hair products (especially goat hair) of infected animals. Skin infection begins as a raised itchy bump that resembles an insect bite but within 1-2 days develops into a vesicle and then a painless ulcer, usually 1-3 cm in diameter, with a characteristic black necrotic (dying) area in the center. Lymph glands in the adjacent area may swell. About 20% of untreated cases of cutaneous anthrax will result in death. Deaths are rare with appropriate antimicrobial therapy. Inhalation: Initial symptoms may resemble a common cold. After several days, the symptoms may progress to severe breathing problems and shock. Inhalation anthrax is usually fatal. Intestinal: The intestinal disease form of anthrax may follow the con
The symptoms can occur within 7 days of infection. Fever (temperature greater than 100 degrees F). The fever may be accompanied by chills or night sweats. Flu-like symptoms include: cough, (usually non-productive), chest discomfort, shortness of breath, fatigue, muscle aches, sore throat followed by difficulty swallowing, enlarged lymph nodes, headache, nausea, loss of appetite, abdominal distress, vomiting, or diarrhea, a sore, especially on your face, arms or hands, that starts as a raised bump and develops into a painless ulcer with a black area in the center. Skin infection starts with an itchy bump similar to a mosquito bite. After a day or two, it forms a small liquid-filled sac. This sac then becomes a painless ulcer with an area of black, dead tissue in the middle. Antibiotic treatment cures this infection. Untreated, it kills about one in five people. The signs of intestinal infection are nausea, loss of appetite, and vomiting. It’s then is followed by severe abdominal pain, v
