ABSTRACT
Anthrax is an infectious zoonosis which is systemic and severe in both wild and domesticated animals. Humans acquire it accidentally through transcutaneous contact, inhalation or ingestion. In the skin it can cause malignant edema or anthrax (malignant pustule). The latter is characterized by one vesicle surrounded by a necrotic zone where Bacillus anthmcis is found. The inhaled form is rare and given its rapid progression and the limited response of the causative agent to treatment, it is nearly always lethal. For this reason Anthrax has been considered useful as a biological weapon. In its experimental form in Rhesus monkeys, it principally causes meningitis and hemorrhage of the mesenteric lymph nodes (Lab Invest 1995; 73 (5): 691-702).
