Guidelines for the Surveillance and Control of Anthrax in Humans and Animals

Overview

Anthrax is primarily a disease of herbivores although few, if any, warm blooded species are entirely immune to it. From earliest historical records until the development of an effective veterinary vaccine midway through the present century (Sterne, 1937; Sterne et al., 1939), together with the subsequent advent of antibiotics, the disease was one of the foremost causes of uncontrolled mortality in cattle, sheep, goats, horses and pigs worldwide. Humans almost invariably contract anthrax directly or indirectly from animals. Today the Office international des épizooties, Paris, France (OIE), reports (OIE, 1997a) show that the disease is still enzootic in most countries of Africa and Asia, a number of European countries and countries/areas of the American continent and certain areas of Australia; it still occurs sporadically in many other countries.