Premium
A case of human cutaneous anthrax
Author(s) -
Kolbe Anthony,
Yuen Marion G,
Doyle Bridget K
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.2006.tb00562.x
Subject(s) - officer , population , health services , medicine , service (business) , management , library science , family medicine , history , archaeology , environmental health , economics , economy , computer science
The Medical Journal of Australia ISSN: 0025729X 4 September 2006 185 5 281-282 ©The Medical Journal of Australia 2006 www.mja.com.au Lessons from Practice In New South Wales, anthrax in animals is a not under the Stock Diseases Act 1923 administered Department of Primary Industries (DPI). The DPI bility for monitoring known anthrax properties an outbreaks of ni al anthrax. Most outbreaks in N the “anthrax belt”, which runs through the middle into northern Victoria. The area is bordered by nthrax is a bacterial infection resulting from endospores of Bacillus anthracis, a gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium, entering the body through skin abrasions or by inhalation or ingestion. The cutaneous form accounts for more than 90% of all human cases of anthrax worldwide. Anthrax is a zoonosis, and normally affects grazing animals such as sheep, cattle and goats. Animals usually become infected by ingesting anthrax spores, which remain viable in the soil for many years; the spores are resistant to desiccation and ultraviolet light. ifiable disease by the NSW has responsid controlling SW occur in of NSW and Moree and Bourke in the north and Albury and Deniliquin in the south. About three properties per year in NSW experience an anthrax outbreak. Cutaneous anthrax in humans usually results from direct contact with infected animals or animal products such as wool, meat or hides, and is generally an occupational hazard. The head, forearms and hands are the most common sites of infection. The lesions are not usually painful, but pain may result from oedema or secondary infection. The differential diagnosis includes conditions producing papular lesions with regional lymphadenopathy. If the lesions are purulent, staphylococcal lymphadenitis is the most likely cause, although secondary staphylococcal infection may occur with cutaneous anthrax. Human cutaneous anthrax is rare in Australia, with the most recent cases reported in 1998 in a forklift driver in Queensland and in 1997 in a knackery worker in northern Victoria. The last Clinical record