Anthrax cases found here, 5 people isolated for treatment! Can anthrax be transmitted from person to person? How to prevent infection?

On August 2, the Yanggu County Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Shandong Province reported that a case of anthrax was found at a beef cattle farm in Qiji Town in the county.

It is reported that as of 10 a.m. on August 2, five farm workers who had direct contact with sick livestock were diagnosed with cutaneous anthrax with mild symptoms. All of them have been isolated for treatment. The rest of the close contacts have all been strictly monitored for their health, and no infection has been found.

The notorious anthrax was used as a biological weapon many times during the two world wars and in some terrorist activities. Nowadays, unless it is caused by human factors, anthrax generally occurs in livestock breeding areas.

Is anthrax fatal? How do people get infected with anthrax? Can it be transmitted from person to person? What are the ways to prevent it? This issue of Health Focus sorts out the issues that people are concerned about. Let's take a look.

A zoonotic disease

Anthrax is a zoonotic infectious disease caused by bacteria called Bacillus anthracis, which is mainly prevalent among herbivorous animals such as cattle, horses, and sheep.

Anthrax Bacillus can form spores in the external environment. The spores are highly resistant to dryness, high heat, ultraviolet rays and some commonly used chemical disinfectants, and can therefore survive for a long time in external environments such as soil. Herbivores generally become ill by eating spores in the soil, grass, etc., and usually die soon.

Most people infected with anthrax are those who are engaged in breeding, slaughtering cattle, sheep and other livestock, selling related products, and engaging in fur processing.

How do people become infected with anthrax?

Contact infection

Anthrax-infected animals and dead animal carcasses are the main sources of anthrax infection. The blood, feces, urine, milk, viscera and bones of sick animals may contain large amounts of anthrax Bacillus. When people slaughter or skin sick animals, or come into contact with objects that may be contaminated by the blood or excrement of sick animals, the bacteria may enter the body through tiny wounds on the skin and cause infection. This is also the most common type of cutaneous anthrax, accounting for more than 95% of all cases.

Oral infection

Intestinal anthrax is mainly caused by ingesting contaminated food containing Bacillus anthracis, which is mostly related to eating habits and food processing, such as air-dried beef that has not been processed by high heat.

Inhalation infection

Pulmonary anthrax is caused mainly by inhalation of dust and aerosols containing Bacillus anthracis. This infection is rare and occurs most often among workers in fur processing factories.

How “terrible” are the symptoms of anthrax?

Symptoms of anthrax depend on the type of infection.

Cutaneous anthrax : lesions are mostly seen on exposed parts of the body such as the hands, upper limbs, neck and shoulders. The initial symptoms are unexplained papules or erythema on the skin, similar to mosquito bite-like papules. Most of them have fever symptoms, and then blisters appear, with swelling around them, followed by central necrosis to form an ulcerative black eschar. The pain is not obvious, but there is a slight itching sensation. No abscess is formed, and the mortality rate is less than 1% with timely treatment . There are also a few severe cases that do not form typical black eschars, but show large local edema and necrosis. The disease progresses rapidly and the mortality rate is high, so you should be vigilant.

Intestinal anthrax can present as acute enteritis or acute abdomen. Acute enteritis may cause nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and diarrhea. Acute abdomen patients have severe systemic poisoning symptoms, including persistent vomiting and diarrhea, bloody stools, abdominal distension, abdominal pain, and often complications of sepsis and septic shock. If not treated in time, it can often lead to death.

Pulmonary anthrax initially presents with "flu-like" symptoms, including low-grade fever, fatigue, malaise, myalgia, and cough, which usually last for about 48 hours. It then suddenly develops into an acute disease with respiratory distress, shortness of breath, wheezing, cough, cyanosis, hemoptysis, etc., and can quickly lead to coma and death, with a mortality rate of more than 90% .

Anthrax is effectively treated with antibiotics, with penicillin being the drug of choice.

The treatment of cutaneous anthrax is not difficult. In addition to the use of antibiotics, only simple wound treatment measures are required. Other types of anthrax are generally more complicated and severe, and require symptomatic treatment based on specific circumstances.

Anthrax is really difficult to treat in the late stage, especially when systemic bleeding occurs. Therefore, the key to treating anthrax patients is early detection, early diagnosis, and early treatment . Any delay may lead to serious consequences. If you have a history of suspected contact with dead animals and develop related symptoms, you should go to a regular hospital in time and inform the doctor of the history of contact with dead animals so that you can get a timely and correct diagnosis and treatment.

Can anthrax be transmitted from person to person? How can it be prevented?

Anthrax is generally not spread from person to person like influenza or COVID-19. The probability of infection from contact with patients is low, and it can occasionally be transmitted from person to person . Therefore, when contacting anthrax cases, personal protection should also be taken to avoid contact with skin exudates, vomitus, body fluids and excrement of the cases.

The most important thing to prevent anthrax is to avoid contact with the source of infection . The main source of anthrax infection is dead animals. If you find that cattle, sheep and other animals are sick or suddenly dead, do not touch, slaughter, eat or buy and sell them.

For professionals , masks, gloves and other protective equipment should be worn when slaughtering, processing fur and other operations to prevent possible pathogens from being infected through the skin or inhaled. If you find yourself or someone around you showing symptoms of anthrax, you should immediately report to the local health center or disease prevention and control agency and seek medical treatment in time, and assist professionals in taking back suspicious animal products to avoid the spread of the source of infection and causing more animals and humans to be infected.

For ordinary people , they should buy quarantined beef and mutton products from formal channels and cook them thoroughly. Do not buy, handle, or eat meat and offal of unknown origin from informal channels such as street vendors, and do not share meat from known dead animals. When traveling, try to avoid contact with animals or related products of unknown origin, especially sick or dead animals or livestock. Choose formal places for eating, choose fully cooked food, and maintain good personal hygiene habits.

Reference source: Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention