Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Clinical syndromes: general
- Part II Clinical syndromes: head and neck
- Part III Clinical syndromes: eye
- Part IV Clinical syndromes: skin and lymph nodes
- Part V Clinical syndromes: respiratory tract
- Part VI Clinical syndromes: heart and blood vessels
- Part VII Clinical syndromes: gastrointestinal tract, liver, and abdomen
- Part VIII Clinical syndromes: genitourinary tract
- Part IX Clinical syndromes: musculoskeletal system
- Part X Clinical syndromes: neurologic system
- Part XI The susceptible host
- Part XII HIV
- Part XIII Nosocomial infection
- Part XIV Infections related to surgery and trauma
- Part XV Prevention of infection
- Part XVI Travel and recreation
- Part XVII Bioterrorism
- Part XVIII Specific organisms: bacteria
- 123 Actinomycosis
- 124 Anaerobic infections
- 125 Anthrax and other Bacillus species
- 126 Bartonella bacilliformis
- 127 Cat scratch disease and other Bartonella infections
- 128 Bordetella
- 129 Branhamella–Moraxella
- 130 Brucellosis
- 131 Campylobacter
- 132 Clostridium
- 133 Corynebacteria
- 134 Enterobacteriaceae
- 135 Enterococcus
- 136 Erysipelothrix
- 137 HACEK
- 138 Helicobacter pylori
- 139 Gonococcus: Neisseria gonorrhoeae
- 140 Haemophilus
- 141 Legionellosis
- 142 Leprosy
- 143 Meningococcus and miscellaneous neisseriae
- 144 Listeria
- 145 Nocardia
- 146 Pasteurella multocida
- 147 Pneumococcus
- 148 Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas, and Burkholderia
- 149 Rat-bite fevers
- 150 Salmonella
- 151 Staphylococcus
- 152 Streptococcus groups A, B, C, D, and G
- 153 Viridans streptococci
- 154 Poststreptococcal immunologic complications
- 155 Shigella
- 156 Tularemia
- 157 Tuberculosis
- 158 Nontuberculous mycobacteria
- 159 Vibrios
- 160 Yersinia
- 161 Miscellaneous gram-positive organisms
- 162 Miscellaneous gram-negative organisms
- Part XIX Specific organisms: spirochetes
- Part XX Specific organisms: Mycoplasma and Chlamydia
- Part XXI Specific organisms: Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma
- Part XXII Specific organisms: fungi
- Part XXIII Specific organisms: viruses
- Part XXIV Specific organisms: parasites
- Part XXV Antimicrobial therapy: general considerations
- Index
- References
125 - Anthrax and other Bacillus species
from Part XVIII - Specific organisms: bacteria
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 April 2015
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- List of Contributors
- Preface
- Part I Clinical syndromes: general
- Part II Clinical syndromes: head and neck
- Part III Clinical syndromes: eye
- Part IV Clinical syndromes: skin and lymph nodes
- Part V Clinical syndromes: respiratory tract
- Part VI Clinical syndromes: heart and blood vessels
- Part VII Clinical syndromes: gastrointestinal tract, liver, and abdomen
- Part VIII Clinical syndromes: genitourinary tract
- Part IX Clinical syndromes: musculoskeletal system
- Part X Clinical syndromes: neurologic system
- Part XI The susceptible host
- Part XII HIV
- Part XIII Nosocomial infection
- Part XIV Infections related to surgery and trauma
- Part XV Prevention of infection
- Part XVI Travel and recreation
- Part XVII Bioterrorism
- Part XVIII Specific organisms: bacteria
- 123 Actinomycosis
- 124 Anaerobic infections
- 125 Anthrax and other Bacillus species
- 126 Bartonella bacilliformis
- 127 Cat scratch disease and other Bartonella infections
- 128 Bordetella
- 129 Branhamella–Moraxella
- 130 Brucellosis
- 131 Campylobacter
- 132 Clostridium
- 133 Corynebacteria
- 134 Enterobacteriaceae
- 135 Enterococcus
- 136 Erysipelothrix
- 137 HACEK
- 138 Helicobacter pylori
- 139 Gonococcus: Neisseria gonorrhoeae
- 140 Haemophilus
- 141 Legionellosis
- 142 Leprosy
- 143 Meningococcus and miscellaneous neisseriae
- 144 Listeria
- 145 Nocardia
- 146 Pasteurella multocida
- 147 Pneumococcus
- 148 Pseudomonas, Stenotrophomonas, and Burkholderia
- 149 Rat-bite fevers
- 150 Salmonella
- 151 Staphylococcus
- 152 Streptococcus groups A, B, C, D, and G
- 153 Viridans streptococci
- 154 Poststreptococcal immunologic complications
- 155 Shigella
- 156 Tularemia
- 157 Tuberculosis
- 158 Nontuberculous mycobacteria
- 159 Vibrios
- 160 Yersinia
- 161 Miscellaneous gram-positive organisms
- 162 Miscellaneous gram-negative organisms
- Part XIX Specific organisms: spirochetes
- Part XX Specific organisms: Mycoplasma and Chlamydia
- Part XXI Specific organisms: Rickettsia, Ehrlichia, and Anaplasma
- Part XXII Specific organisms: fungi
- Part XXIII Specific organisms: viruses
- Part XXIV Specific organisms: parasites
- Part XXV Antimicrobial therapy: general considerations
- Index
- References
Summary
Introduction
Anthrax is a disease caused by the gram-positive, aerobic bacterium Bacillus anthracis and was recognized in antiquity. The disease figures prominently in the history of modern medicine because it was the first bacterial illness for which successful vaccines were prepared, almost simultaneously by William Smith Greenfield in London and Louis Pasteur in Paris. Anthrax is a zoonosis of herbivores which is encountered worldwide and human cases continue to be seen not infrequently in Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Thailand, and countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Grazing wild animals and cattle are very susceptible and human disease in animal husbandmen and herders is closely tied to exposure to infected beasts. Propagating the bacteria in the spore form is used in bioterrorism, a novel and more recent form of human exposure to anthrax, utilizing delivery systems such as the postal service.
To understand anthrax one must keep in mind the natural cycle of disease in animals: spores survive prolonged periods in alkaline soils, rainwater concentrates spores in low-lying depressions and susceptible herbivores gather in these locales during dry periods and inhale aerosolized spores or swallow spores loosely attached to forage. These geographic and climatic factors are usually present prior to animal outbreaks and may culminate in humans being infected accidentally. Spores arise from bacilli exposed to ambient air when blood from dying animals reaches the soil or carcasses are torn apart by scavengers. When the bacilli are exposed to air, spores form in the central and subterminal part of the bacillus. Spores may survive for prolonged periods (~90 years) in soil rich with organic material, a pH greater than 6.1 (alkaline soils) with high concentrations of Ca++. This characterizes a wide geographic swathe in the middle United States from Texas to North Dakota. It is also true for soils in the steppes of Asia and in sub-Saharan Africa where anthrax remains common in wildlife. Although anthrax is considered an obligate pathogen, it is likely that in some circumstances a vegetative bacillus-spore cycle occurs independent of infection in the soil alone.
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- Clinical Infectious Disease , pp. 843 - 849Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2015