Skip to content
1887

Journal of Medical Microbiology logo Journal of Medical Microbiology

Volume 72, Issue 8

JMM Profile: Open Access

This article is part of the JMM Profiles collection.

Graphical Abstract

 Graphical abstract 

Principal routes of infection and stages of anthrax pathogenesis, consistent with current understandings. Depending on the route of infection, germination of spores may happen in extracellular tissue fluid, or following phagocytosis (a). Successful infection of host cells leads to toxin-associated cell death and release of vegetative cells and toxin (b). Toxin binds and enters other host cells (c), including those of the immune system, disrupting function. In some cases this leads to systemic disease, which typically is fatal.

 

Abstract

has a wide host range among warm-blooded animals and causes the disease anthrax. This manifests in localized forms (skin, alimentary) and as septicaemia, the latter typically being fatal. forms robust and long-lived endospores, which constitute the environmental phase of its lifecycle and are the key infective agents. Elaboration of plasmid-encoded binary toxin complex and a capsule are fundamental to pathogenicity. Epidemiology in animals is typified by prolonged environmental quiescence and acute systemic disease. Human disease is non-contagious and derives usually from contact with livestock or animal products, although military or terrorist dispersal of spores remains a threat.

  • Received:
  • Accepted:
  • Published Online:
Keyword(s): capsule , pXO1 , pXO2 and spore
Funding
This study was supported by the:
  • Scottish Government (Award Contract B)
    • Principal Award Recipient: NotApplicable
  • Llywodraeth Cymru (Award Contract B)
    • Principal Award Recipient: NotApplicable
  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, UK Government (Award Contract B)
    • Principal Award Recipient: NotApplicable
© 2023 Crown Copyright
  • This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. This article was made open access via a Publish and Read agreement between the Microbiology Society and the corresponding author’s institution.
Loading

Article metrics loading...

/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.001747
2023-08-21
2025-12-11

Metrics

Loading full text...

Full text loading...

/deliver/fulltext/jmm/72/8/jmm001747.html?itemId=/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.001747&mimeType=html&fmt=ahah

References

  1. Beyer W, Turnbull PCB. Anthrax in animals. Mol Aspects Med 2009; 30:481–489 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  2. Doganay M, Demiraslan H. Human anthrax as a re-emerging disease. Recent Pat Antiinfect Drug Discov 2015; 10:10–29 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  3. Schwartz M. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: a short history of anthrax. Mol Aspects Med 2009; 30:347–355 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  4. Koch R. Untersuchungen Über Bakterien V. die Aetiologie der Milzbrandkrankheit, Begründet auf der Entwicklungsgeschichte des Bacillus Anthracis [Studies on bacteria V. The etiology of anthrax disease based on the history of the development of Bacillus Anthracis]. Beitr Zur Biol Pflanz 1876; 2:277–310
     [Google Scholar]
  5. Beatty ME, Ashford DA, Griffin PM, Tauxe RV, Sobel J. Gastrointestinal anthrax: review of the literature. Arch Intern Med 2003; 163:2527–2531 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  6. Christie AB. The clinical aspects of anthrax. Postgrad Med J 1973; 49:565–570 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  7. Spencer RC. Bacillus anthracis. J Clin Pathol 2003; 56:182–187 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  8. WHO, FAO, OIE Anthrax in Humans and Animals, 4th. edn Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2008
     [Google Scholar]
  9. Swartz MN. Recognition and management of anthrax - an update. N Engl J Med 2001; 345:1621–1626 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  10. Zasada AA. Injectional anthrax in human: a new face of the old disease. Adv Clin Exp Med 2018; 27:553–558 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  11. Smith IM. A brief review of anthrax in domestic animals. Postgrad Med J 1973; 49:571–572 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  12. Alam ME, Kamal MM, Rahman M, Kabir A, Islam MS et al. Review of anthrax: a disease of farm animals. J Adv Vet Anim Res 2022; 9:323–334 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  13. Baillie L, Read TD. Bacillus anthracis, a bug with attitude!. Curr Opin Microbiol 2001; 4:78–81 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  14. Koehler TM. Bacillus anthracis physiology and genetics. Mol Aspects Med 2009; 30:386–396 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  15. Fasanella A, Galante D, Garofolo G, Jones MH. Anthrax undervalued zoonosis. Vet Microbiol 2010; 140:318–331 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  16. Shadomy SV, Smith TL. Anthrax. J Am Vet Med Assoc 2008; 233:63–72 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  17. Driks A. The Bacillus anthracis spore. Mol Aspects Med 2009; 30:368–373 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  18. Edwards KA, Clancy HA, Baeumner AJ. Bacillus anthracis: toxicology, epidemiology and current rapid-detection methods. Anal Bioanal Chem 2006; 384:73–84 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  19. Kolstø A-B, Tourasse NJ, Økstad OA. What sets Bacillus anthracis apart from other Bacillus species?. Annu Rev Microbiol 2009; 63:451–476 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  20. Didelot X, Barker M, Falush D, Priest FG. Evolution of pathogenicity in the Bacillus cereus group. Syst Appl Microbiol 2009; 32:81–90 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  21. Pilo P, Frey J. Pathogenicity, population genetics and dissemination of Bacillus anthracis. Infect Genet Evol 2018; 64:115–125 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  22. Pilo P, Frey J. Bacillus anthracis: molecular taxonomy, population genetics, phylogeny and patho-evolution. Infect Genet Evol 2011; 11:1218–1224 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  23. Inglesby TV, O’Toole T, Henderson DA, Bartlett JG, Ascher MS et al. Anthrax as a biological weapon, 2002: updated recommendations for management. J Am Med Assoc 2002; 287:2236–2252 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  24. WOAH Chapter 3.1.1: Anthrax. In Manual of Diagnostic Tests and Vaccines for Terrestrial Animals World Organisation for Animal Health (WOAH/OIE); 2018 pp 309–320
     [Google Scholar]
  25. Ndiva Mongoh M, Dyer NW, Stoltenow CL, Hearne R, Khaitsa ML. A review of management practices for the control of anthrax in animals: the 2005 anthrax epizootic in North Dakota - case study. Zoonoses Public Health 2008; 55:279–290 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  26. Owen MP, Schauwers W, Hugh-Jones ME, Kiernan JA, Turnbull PCB et al. A simple, reliable M’Fadyean stain for visualizing the Bacillus anthracis capsule. J Microbiol Methods 2013; 92:264–269 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  27. Baillie L, Huwar T. Bacteria: Bacillus anthracis. In Motarjemi Y. eds Encyclopedia of Food Safety Waltham: Academic Press; 2014 pp 348–355
     [Google Scholar]
  28. Stenfors Arnesen LP, Fagerlund A, Granum PE. From soil to gut: Bacillus cereus and its food poisoning toxins. FEMS Microbiol Rev 2008; 32:579–606 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  29. Sweeney DA, Hicks CW, Cui X, Li Y, Eichacker PQ. Anthrax infection. Am J Respir Crit Care Med 2011; 184:1333–1341 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  30. Holty J-E, Bravata DM, Liu H, Olshen RA, McDonald KM et al. Systematic review: a century of inhalational anthrax cases from 1900 to 2005. Ann Intern Med 2006; 144:270–280 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  31. Hicks CW, Sweeney DA, Cui X, Li Y, Eichacker PQ. An overview of anthrax infection including the recently identified form of disease in injection drug users. Intensive Care Med 2012; 38:1092–1104 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  32. Maxson T, Kongphet-Tran T, Mongkolrattanothai T, Travis T, Hendricks K et al. Systematic review of in vitro antimicrobial susceptibility testing for Bacillus anthracis, 1947-2019. Clin Infect Dis 2022; 75:S373–S378 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  33. CLSI Methods for Antimicrobial Dilution and Disk Susceptibility Testing of Infrequently Isolated or Fastidious Bacteria, 3rd. edn Wayne, Pennsylvania, USA: Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute; 2015
     [Google Scholar]
  34. Bhatnagar R, Batra S. Anthrax toxin. Crit Rev Microbiol 2001; 27:167–200 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  35. Moayeri M, Leppla SH, Vrentas C, Pomerantsev AP, Liu S. Anthrax pathogenesis. Annu Rev Microbiol 2015; 69:185–208 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  36. Bakhteeva I, Timofeev V. Some peculiarities of anthrax epidemiology in herbivorous and carnivorous animals. Life 2022; 12:870 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  37. Doganay M, Metan G, Alp E. A review of cutaneous anthrax and its outcome. J Infect Public Health 2010; 3:98–105 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  38. Luong T, Nguyen TT, Trinh VB, Walker MA, Ha Hoang TT et al. Informing one health anthrax surveillance and vaccination strategy from spatial analysis of anthrax in humans and livestock in Ha Giang province, Vietnam (1999-2020). Am J Trop Med Hyg 2023; 108:492–502 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  39. Siamudaala VM, Bwalya JM, Munang’andu HM, Sinyangwe PG, Banda F et al. Ecology and epidemiology of anthrax in cattle and humans in Zambia. Jpn J Vet Res 2006; 54:15–23 [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  40. Kostoff RN, Morse SA, Oncu S. The seminal literature of anthrax research. Crit Rev Microbiol 2007; 33:171–181 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  41. Hu JL, Cui LL, Bao CJ, Tan ZM, Rutherford S et al. Source and risk factors of a cutaneous anthrax outbreak, Jiangsu, Eastern China, 2012. Epidemiol Infect 2016; 144:2672–2678 [View Article]
     [Google Scholar]
  42. Timofeev VS, Bakhteeva IV, Titareva GM, Goncharova Y, Dyatlov IA. пути распространения сибирской язвы в природных экосистемах [russian: Routes of spread of anthrax in natural ecosystems]. Problemy Osobo Opasnykh Infektsii 2021; 3:23–32 [View Article]
     [Google Scholar]
  43. Hugh-Jones M, Blackburn J. The ecology of Bacillus anthracis. Mol Aspects Med 2009; 30:356–367 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  44. Goossens PL, Tournier J-N. Crossing of the epithelial barriers by Bacillus anthracis: the known and the unknown. Front Microbiol 2015; 6:1122 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  45. Mogridge J. Defensive strategies of Bacillus anthracis that promote a fatal disease. Drug Discov Today Dis Mech 2007; 4:253–258 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  46. Tonello F, Zornetta I. Bacillus anthracis factors for phagosomal escape. Toxins 2012; 4:536–553 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  47. Bischof TS, Hahn BL, Sohnle PG. Characteristics of spore germination in a mouse model of cutaneous anthrax. J Infect Dis 2007; 195:888–894 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  48. Hahn BL, Sharma S, Sohnle PG. Analysis of epidermal entry in experimental cutaneous Bacillus anthracis infections in mice. J Lab Clin Med 2005; 146:95–102 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  49. Frankel AE, Kuo S-R, Dostal D, Watson L, Duesbery NS et al. Pathophysiology of anthrax. Front Biosci 2009; 14:4516–4524 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  50. Young JAT, Collier RJ. Anthrax toxin: receptor binding, internalization, pore formation, and translocation. Annu Rev Biochem 2007; 76:243–265 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  51. Turk BE. Manipulation of host signalling pathways by anthrax toxins. Biochem J 2007; 402:405–417 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  52. Gnade BT, Moen ST, Chopra AK, Peterson JW, Yeager LA. Emergence of anthrax edema toxin as a master manipulator of macrophage and B cell functions. Toxins 2010; 2:1881–1897 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  53. Makino S-I, Watarai M, Cheun H-I, Shirahata T, Uchida I. Effect of the lower molecular capsule released from the cell surface of Bacillus anthracis on the pathogenesis of anthrax. J Infect Dis 2002; 186:227–233 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  54. Aceng FL, Ario AR, Alitubeera PH, Neckyon MM, Kadobera D et al. Cutaneous anthrax associated with handling carcasses of animals that died suddenly of unknown cause: Arua District, Uganda, January 2015-August 2017. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2021; 15:e0009645 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  55. Clark A, Wolfe DN. Current state of anthrax vaccines and key R&D gaps moving forward. Microorganisms 2020; 8:651 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  56. Turner AJ, Galvin JW, Rubira RJ, Condron RJ, Bradley T. Experiences with vaccination and epidemiological investigations on an anthrax outbreak in Australia in 1997. J Appl Microbiol 1999; 87:294–297 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  57. Bagamian KH, Alexander KA, Hadfield TL, Blackburn JK. Ante- and postmortem diagnostic techniques for anthrax: rethinking pathogen exposure and the geographic extent of the disease in wildlife. J Wildl Dis 2013; 49:786–801 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  58. Gainer RS, Vergnaud G, Hugh-Jones ME. A review of arguments for the existence of latent infections of Bacillus anthracis, and research needed to understand their role in the outbreaks of anthrax. Microorganisms 2020; 8:800 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  59. CDC. Anthrax Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. n.d https://www.cdc.gov/anthrax/index.html
  60. Williamson ED, Dyson EH. Anthrax prophylaxis: recent advances and future directions. Front Microbiol 2015; 6:1009 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  61. Beierlein JM, Anderson AC. New developments in vaccines, inhibitors of anthrax toxins, and antibiotic therapeutics for Bacillus anthracis. Curr Med Chem 2011; 18:5083–5094 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
  62. Kasradze A, Echeverria D, Zakhashvili K, Bautista C, Heyer N et al. Rates and risk factors for human cutaneous anthrax in the country of Georgia: national surveillance data, 2008-2015. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0196958 [View Article] [PubMed]
     [Google Scholar]
/content/journal/jmm/10.1099/jmm.0.001747
Loading

Most cited Most Cited RSS feed

This is a required field
Please enter a valid email address
Approval was a Success
Invalid data
An error occurred
Approval was partially successful, following selected items could not be processed due to error