Anthrax in Missouri

History of the Disease

Welcome Page Anthrax Home Page 1887 Outbreak Other Missouri Cases

Anthrax (also known as wool sorters disease, malignant pustules, milzbrand, charbon, splenic fever) is one of the oldest and most destructive diseases of livestock known. While it is chiefly limited to cattle and sheep, it may be transmitted to goats, horses, cats, and certain kinds of game.  Anthrax is caused by rod shaped bacteria (bacilli). This bacteria has the ability to form spores. Bacilli of anthrax magnified 500 times. This is a 1916 plate showing bacilli obtained from the blood of a cow that had died of anthrax in Mississippi. The bacilli are stained blue. The large round objects are blood cells. USDA, 1916 The spores of anthrax are extremely resistant to temperature, sunlight, drying and chemical disinfectants. They can live for years in the environment; anthrax bacteria have been reported to survive for 60 years in a laboratory setting. Anthrax can be spread through the respiratory tract. Dried spores may be inhaled and reach the general circulation by way of the capillaries of the lungs. Human beings following certain occupations, as wool sorting, mattress making, etc., obtain infection in this way more often than do the lower animals.  As early as 1912 it was known that Anthrax was spread through the respiratory tract. Dried spores may be inhaled and reach the general circulation by way of the capillaries of the lungs. Human beings following certain occupations, as wool sorting, mattress making, etc., obtain infection in this way more often than do the lower animals.  Anthrax may also be contracted through the skin. When infection is introduced through the skin, there results the condition known as external anthrax, carbuncular disease, inoculation anthrax, or malignant pustule. The digestive tract also provides a mode of infection. The internal, or intestinal, form of anthrax is generally produced through taking the virus in contaminated food or water References Reynolds, M.H. Veterinary Studies for Agriculture Students. New York: The Macmillan Company. 1912: 152. Atkinson, et al. Special Report on Diseases of Cattle. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1916: 447.