Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Anthrax
Anthrax is a disease caused by Bacillus anthracis, a germ that lives in soil. Many people know about it from the 2001 bioterror attacks. In the attacks, someone purposely spread anthrax through the U.S. mail. This killed five people and made 22 sick.
Anthrax is rare. It affects animals such as cattle, sheep, and goats more often than people. People can get anthrax from contact with infected animals, wool, meat, or hides. It can cause three forms of disease in people. They are:
- Cutaneous, which affects the skin. People with cuts or open sores can get it if they touch the bacteria.
- Inhalation, which affects the lungs. You can get this if you breathe in spores of the bacteria.
- Gastrointestinal, which affects the digestive system. You can get it by eating infected meat.
Antibiotics often cure anthrax if it is diagnosed early. But many people don't know they have anthrax until it is too late to treat. A vaccine to prevent anthrax is available for people in the military and others at high risk.
It sits within Infections.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Anthrax
81 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Natural History of Anthrax: a Study of Primary Infected, Recovered, and Exposed Individuals (SPoRE); and Evaluation of AVA-Vaccinated RecipientsNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
- Combined Gastrointestinal Decontamination in Acute Severe PoisoningAssistance Publique - Hôpitaux de Paris
- Cigarette Filter StudyRutgers, The State University of New Jersey
- SGLT2 Inhibitor Utilization Re-perfusion TherapyTaichung Veterans General Hospital
- Observational Study of Raxibacumab in Sporadic Cases of Systemic AnthraxEmergent BioSolutions
- Anthrax AV7909 Boost Evaluation StudyBiomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority
Research already completed
- The Effect of AC-134 in Chronic Kidney DiseasesTaichung Veterans General Hospital
- VELOCITY: An Anthrax Vaccine Clinical StudyEmergent BioSolutions
- Comparative Clinical Assessment of Charcoal and Conventional ToothbrushesCairo University
- Velocity 2: An Anthrax Vaccine and Antibiotics Clinical StudyEmergent BioSolutions
- NasoShield Study of Safety and ImmunogenicityAltimmune, Inc.
- NasoShield in Healthy Adults to Study Safety and ImmunogenicityAltimmune, Inc.
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- About AnthraxCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- AnthraxMerck & Co., Inc.
Prevention and Risk Factors
- About Anthrax PreventionCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Preventing Exposure to Anthrax at Certain JobsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: AnthraxNational Institutes of Health
Patient Handouts
- Anthrax Vaccine: What You Need to KnowCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Anthrax Vaccines, Anthrax. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Anthrax, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.