Gastrointestinal Anthrax

Gastrointestinal anthrax is a rare but serious bacterial disease. It is one of the three main types of anthrax. A person can acquire gastrointestinal anthrax from eating meat contaminated with Bacillus anthracis bacteria or their spores. Antibiotics and supportive anthrax treatment can sometimes cure the disease; however, gastrointestinal anthrax results in death in 25 to 60 percent of cases. There have been no confirmed cases of this type of anthrax in the United States.

Major Types of Anthrax

Gastrointestinal Anthrax: An Overview

Gastrointestinal anthrax is one of the three main types of anthrax, a serious bacterial disease. The other major types of anthrax are:

Cutaneous (skin) anthrax
Inhalation anthrax.

People can acquire gastrointestinal anthrax from eating meat contaminated with Bacillus anthracis bacteria or their spores.

Symptoms of Gastrointestinal Anthrax

Gastrointestinal anthrax symptoms can include:

Stomach pain
Loss of appetite
Bloody diarrhea
Nausea
Fever
Vomiting blood.

Treatment and Prognosis for Gastrointestinal Anthrax

Antibiotics and supportive anthrax treatment can cure the disease; however, gastrointestinal anthrax results in death in 25 to 60 percent of cases.

Where Does Gastrointestinal Anthrax Occur?

Gastrointestinal anthrax occurs naturally in warm and tropical regions of Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. There have been no confirmed cases of gastrointestinal anthrax in the United States, although a Minnesota farm family may have experienced symptoms of gastrointestinal anthrax in 2000, after eating meat from a steer that had anthrax.