Anthrax Term Paper

In this paper, I will be discussing about a zoonotic disease that caused the first of all infectious death of man and animals by a specific organism. This organism is capable of developing into very resistant spores, that soon develop to survive for many years and under any conditions. I will also be discussing the three forms of anthrax, the factors influencing the infection, common source of infection, how humans can contract it, where it grows, it’s incubation period, the signs after the incubation period, and how to possibly control it, along with the difficulties of controlling this disease. Anthrax is a zoonotic disease caused by exotoxins released by the bacteria, Bacillus anthracis, a spore-forming bacterium (Islam, 2013). B. anthracis is a Gram-positive, rod-shaped, spore-forming bacterium. It is a causative agent of anthrax, but rapidly an infectious disease that affects both animals and humans (Liu, 2014 & Elad, 2014). It can form spores whenever they are exposed freely to air to oxygen at suitable temperatures, which makes them resistant to environmental conditions such as heating, freezing, chemical disinfection or dehydration (destroying other types of bacteria). However, the lack of oxygen prevents the development of spores. If spores infect open cuts/abrasions without rapid treatment, death can occur within two to three days. Anthrax spores can survive for many years in
To avoid cutting and then feeding the carcass, it has to be proved that the animal did not die of anthrax. Another way anthrax can be controlled is through a vaccination program using a rapid detection and reporting, quarantine, antibiotic treatment of animal exposed to bacteria and then finally, burning/burial of a dead