Have you ever heard of Anthrax? It would not be a surprise if you haven’t, as this disease is uncommon in the West.³ However, Anthrax is still present in various continents including Africa, Asia and Europe,⁵ and its effect on human life throughout the centuries is too great to be ignored. This article will explore what Anthrax is, why it’s important to develop a collective awareness, and possible strategies to do so.

What is Anthrax?

Definition 

Anthrax is a bacterial disease that is caused by Bacillus anthracis (B. anthracis).⁵ The bacteria is gram-positive, uses oxygen, cannot physically move and forms spores.⁶ It is termed as a ‘zoonotic’ disease, as it is transmitted from animals to humans, but nevertheless has caused high mortality in both.¹ Animals acquire the disease when they make contact with Anthrax spores, and if humans make contact with these animals or their products they too may become infected.³ The subsequent symptoms are serious and life-threatening.

Symptoms and types

The symptoms of Anthrax vary and are diverse, as it depends on the type of Anthrax the individual has been infected with.¹ The types of anthrax along with its symptoms and other features have been summarised in the following table:^1,3,5,6

The past and present of anthrax

Mankind has a long history with anthrax, with records of the disease first being described in 70 BC to 19 BC.¹ Descriptions of what seems to be symptoms of anthrax match up closely with Old Testament Egyptian Plagues.¹ In the 1600s, the first recorded European pandemic, termed “Black Bane”, is thought to have been caused by anthrax and ended with at least 60,000 deaths.¹ It was 1875 when the bacteria that causes anthrax was discovered by Robet Koch, a German physician and one of the pioneers of microbiology.⁶ The high mortality rates demonstrated in past plagues has made anthrax infamous for its use as a bioweapon, with several countries developing programs to mass produce B. anthracis spores.¹ One famous example is the Soviet Union’s anthrax production program, using anthrax inhalation as a bioweapon which started in 1885.⁶ However, bioweapon programs have been significantly reduced due to a Biological Weapons Convention in 1975 that banned the research and production of anthrax. Despite these efforts, an anthrax attack that occurred in 2001 (a week after the significant 9/11 incident) resulted in 22 infected individuals and 5 deaths.¹ Anthrax is proven to be a lethal bioweapon that the public need to be aware of in case of another attack. Even outside of attacks, the public needs to be in case of any outbreak, since it affects other populations daily. Currently, there are around 20,000 to 100,000 livestock that become infected worldwide each year which puts 1.8 billion people at risk as they live surrounding these livestock.⁵ Therefore, there is a clear need for public education surrounding Anthrax.

Importance of public education

Public health and safety

There is value in public health education and promoting safety against Anthrax worldwide. History has proven that educating the public is the key to ensuring safety for all, as seen in the COVID-19 pandemic.⁴ This pandemic that occurred in 2019 demonstrates how important it is to spread awareness throughout the public and also ensure health staff are equipped with this knowledge. The Anthrax attack that happened in 2001 is similar to the COVID-19 pandemic in the sense that hospitals and staff struggled to accommodate the patients.⁴ In order to overcome this, there should be procedures in place in case of any outbreaks such as Anthrax.

Key educational content to replace misconceptions

The key to creating a collective awareness and public understanding of Anthrax is to ensure the knowledge being spread is factual. Key educational content could include symptoms, prevention, detection, transmission, treatments and vaccines to clear up any myths or misunderstandings surrounding Anthrax. Since Anthrax is held in animal hosts, it’s important to ensure animals themselves are vaccinated and encourage thorough hygiene within these environments.⁶ It’s important to provide information to do with human health and animal health. 

Negative consequences

The consequences of Anthrax affect many things beyond the short-term health of people. It also may give individuals disabilities, mental ailments and worst-case scenario, death⁶. Mental ailments include fear, anxiety and distress. Anthrax in animals causes financial burdens on farmers and impacts their produce⁶. There is significant economic impact when there is an outbreak of Anthrax, which simply puts even more burden on healthcare systems since there is financial and resource loss. Anthrax affects health systems and the economy on a large scale which is why it is important to promote awareness at an individual level. 

Methods of dissemination

Public health campaigns

Introducing a campaign to increase awareness of Anthrax would be beneficial. Communities need to be reached, including those who live in remote areas.⁶ These campaigns should include the importance of protection, how transmission occurs, and ways of safely handling carcasses that have Anthrax.⁶ There should be a sense of urgency and it must reach communities that are most at risk.

Government and law

Involvement from the government and people of authority would be tremendously useful. The first step is to evoke conversation about Anthrax to government officials and discuss if there are any laws that need to be put into place. Anthrax is already a ‘notifiable’ disease meaning the government must be informed if any cases arise.⁷ Though it can be argued that there needs to be stricter laws in place to do with how carcasses are handled, safety standards and hygiene practices.⁷

Agricultural sector

There is a need to educate farmers and agricultural engineers when it comes to Anthrax. Since Anthrax spreads to humans from animals, it is wise to advise farmers or even introduce laws for animals to be vaccinated.⁶ In India, the government chose to give these free-of-charge to encourage participation.⁷ Beyond vaccinations, it would also be wise to implement training programs for animal hygiene and prevention methods.

Challenges and considerations

There are several barriers and challenges to consider when it comes to spreading awareness about Anthrax:

• Barriers to Effective Education - great effort is required as it needs teamwork from the government, healthcare professionals and social workers in order to bring about effective campaigns⁶
• Socioeconomic and Cultural Factors - cultural ideals and practices, when handling and eating dead animal meat, may be difficult to change. There are also attitudes towards inappropriate antibiotic use, the killing of sick animals and hygiene which needs to be addressed.⁷ Free education and incentives could help make this happen
• Geographic and Logistical Challenges - many areas that have Anthrax in the region are far from areas that provide education and treatment.⁷ Surveillance, which refers to monitoring Anthrax cases, proves to be difficult when research facilities are far away.⁷ This could be fixed with digital means and technology but it also depends on finance and the willingness of communities to cooperate

Summary

There is no doubt Anthrax is a major health burden in many parts of the world. The impact and negative consequences is too great to be ignored, as it reaches into many areas: physical health, the economy, mental health, stigmatisation, government and food supply chains. Aside from the natural transmission of Anthrax, there is a risk for it to be used as a bioweapon. Therefore, education shouldn’t be restricted to remote endemic regions, but instead be a worldwide campaign. This requires a collective effort to tackle a worldwide and ancient problem.