What is anthrax and what causes it?

Anthrax is an infectious disease that can affect the skin, the lungs, as well as the mouth, throat and gastrointestinal tract. The infection sometimes can spread to other parts of the body, especially if treatment is not started early. For example, anthrax could, very rarely, lead to inflammation of the meninges (meningitis). Anthrax is caused by a bacterium called Bacillus anthracis. The bacteria occur in living tissue of infected animals. The bacteria can form spores under certain conditions when, for example, body fluids infected with the bacteria are exposed to the air. The bacteria cannot […]