What is anthrax and what causes it?
Anthrax is an infectious disease that can affect the skin, the lungs, as well as the mouth, throat and gastrointestinal tract. The infection sometimes can spread to other parts of the body, especially if treatment is not started early. For example, anthrax could, very rarely, lead to inflammation of the meninges (meningitis). Anthrax is caused by a bacterium called Bacillus anthracis. The bacteria occur in living tissue of infected animals. The bacteria can form spores under certain conditions when, for example, body fluids infected with the bacteria are exposed to the air. The bacteria cannot live for long outside an animal. On the other hand, the spores can survive in soil and some other materials for decades. How is anthrax contracted? To multiply, Bacillus anthracis produces small spores. When these spores enter a cut or abrasion on the skin they start a skin infection usually called cutaneous anthrax. If the spores are inhaled, they are small enough that they enter the lungs and c
