Download Symptoms of cutaneous anthrax

Anthrax
Muhammad Abid
14-10670
Group# 1.
Introduction:
Anthrax is an infectious disease due to a bacterium called Bacillus anthracis. Infection in humans most often
involves the skin, gastrointestinal tract, or lungs. Anthrax commonly affects hoofed animals such as sheep,
cattle, and goats. Humans who come into contact with infected animals can get sick with anthrax as well.
Causes:
There are three main toots of anthrax infection.
Cutaneous anthrax:
It occurs when anthrax spores touch a cut or scrape on the skin. It is the most common type of anthrax
infection. The main risk is contact with animal hides or hair, bone products, and wool, or with infected
animals. People most at risk for cutaneous anthrax include farm workers, veterinarians, and tannery and wool
workers.
Inhalation anthrax:
It develops when anthrax spores enter the lungs through the respiratory tract. It is most commonly contracted
when workers breathe in airborne anthrax spores during processes such as tanning hides and processing wool.
Gastrointestinal anthrax:
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It occurs when someone eats anthrax-tainted meat.
Symptoms:
Symptoms of anthrax differ depending on the type of anthrax.
Symptoms of cutaneous anthrax:
It starts 1 to 7 days after exposure:
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An itchy sore develops that is similar to an insect bite. This sore may blister and form a black ulcer
(sore or eschar).
The sore is usually painless, but it is often surrounded by swelling.
A scab often forms, and then dries and falls off within 2 weeks. Complete healing can take longer.
Symptoms of inhalation anthrax:
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Begins with fever, malaise, headache, cough, shortness of breath, and chest pain
Fever and shock may occur later
Symptoms of gastrointestinal anthrax:
It usually occurs within 1 week and may include:
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Abdominal pain
Bloody diarrhea
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Diarrhea
Fever
Mouth sores
Nausea and vomiting (the vomit may contain blood)
Tests:
A culture of the skin, and sometimes a biopsy, are done on the skin sores. The sample is looked at under a
microscope to identify the anthrax bacterium.
Treatment:
Antibiotics are usually used to treat anthrax. Antibiotics which are prescribed are penicillin, Doxycycline and
ciprofloxacin.
Molecular Bases:
Anthrax is caused by Bacillus anthracis, a spore-forming bacterium that can survive extreme conditions over
long period. Once the bacterium enters an animal or a human host, the spores germinate and reproduce
bacteria disseminated rapidly to the blood stream. In order to suppress the immune responses of the host and
promote the survival of the bacterium, Bacillus anthracis secretes anthrax toxin composed of three types of
killer proteins: protective antigen (PA), lethal factor (LF), and edema factor (EF). The toxin triplet targets
primarily macrophages, defensive cells that ingest invading microorganisms.
The assault to a target cell by anthrax toxin is an "organized" crime. Individually, none of the three proteins is
toxic. In order to function, LF or EF must team up with PA, which is responsible for transporting LF and EF into
a target cell. Once inside the cell, LF converts ATP to cyclic AMP, while EF disables MAPKKs, a family of
signaling proteins. These attacks disrupt various cellular signaling pathways of macrophages and some other
cells, essentially shutting down the host's immune system and often leading to death of the host.
References:
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http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0002301/
http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/Research/anthrax/