Treatment, control and prevention of the Anthrax disease

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2017 in the subject Medicine - Epidemiology, grade: 1, Egerton University, language: English, abstract: Anthrax is a bacteria-caused disease that affects mammals of the bovine and caprine species, and it causes fatal deaths in humans. The most affected domestic animals include goats, sheep, cattle and horses. It is a fatal disease in animals owing to the fact that, it is transmitted from one herbivorous animal to another the same way as other zoonotic diseases. Anthrax toxins cause fatal effects on the central nervous system, the brain and heart. It is believed that the symptoms and signs presented in anthrax infection are as a result of the toxic effects on some vital organs and systems. The treatment of anthrax depends on the form of anthrax involved although therapeutic agents target the disease causing pathogen, Bacillus anthracis. As such, antibiotics are used to destroy the anthrax causing bacteria. Some of the most potent antibiotics include penicillin, ciprofloxacin and doxycycline. Despite the fatality associated with anthrax, reliable preventive and control measures reduce the risk of the disease. From an epidemiological perspective, prevention is usually considered as the most appropriate approach in counteracting the impacts of a given disease. Currently, anthrax is contracted through direct or indirect contact with infected animals in the endemic areas. Anthrax toxins' toxicity is extremely fatal because it leads to sudden death if medical intervention is not availed during the initial stages of the disease infection.