Emergency Medical Services
ANTHRAX

Agent Information: 	An aerobic, gram-positive, spore-forming bacteria that can cause 
			cutaneous, pulmonary or gastrointestinal infection, as well as 
			meningitis or sepsis. Incubation is typically 1-7 days, but can be up 
			to 2 months for pulmonary anthrax and 1-12 days for cutaneous 
			anthrax.

Signs and Symptoms:	Pulmonary anthrax begins as a severe influenza like illness (ILI) for 
			2-3 days with prominent symptoms of cough and chest pain to help 
			distinguish from influenza. A brief period of improvement followed 
			by rapid deterioration due to the production of toxin. Cutaneous 
			anthrax begins as a papular lesion that progresses to a vesicular 
			stage and then develops an eschar center.

Transmission:		No person-to-person transmission. Only those directly exposed to 
			the bacterium are at risk of infection.

Protective Measures:    Follow appropriate Body Substance Isolation (BSI) precautions. (If 
			concerns exist about other agents or a mixed release, may 
			recommend PPE). Victims immediately exposed require 
			decontamination of spores.

Decontamination  	Equipment can be decontaminated using soap, water and 0.5%
of PPE and equipment:	hypochlorite solution (one part household bleach to 10 parts water) 
			can be used as appropriate or if gear had any visible contamination. 
			Note that bleach may damage some types of firefighter turnout gear 
			(one reason why it should not be used for biological agent response 
			actions). After taking off gear, response workers should shower 
			using copious quantities of soap and water.
	
Prophylaxis:		For exposed but asymptomatic:
			If available, these patients are candidates for evaluation at a 
			Neighborhood Emergency Help Center (NEHC). A list of opened 
			centers will be provided and transportation from local hospitals to 
			these centers will be arranged. These patients should be provided 
			with Doxycyline or Ciprofloxacin for 60 days.

Treatment:		For those with possible signs of illness:
			Inpatient treatment with IV antibiotics until diagnosis can be 
			confirmed.
	
Reporting:		Any suspect cases should be reported immediately to the Division 
			of Public Health, Epidemiology Branch: 1-888-295-5156. For 
			additional information, view the CDC website: www.bt.cdc.gov.

 
 
24/7 Emergency Contact Number:  1-888-295-5156
Revised: 05/2007
Doc. # 35-05-20/07/05/90