Anthrax can also be spread by eating undercooked meat from infected animals. However, it is rare to find infected animals in the United States. Anthrax has never been passed from one person to another. Symptoms vary depending on how the disease was contracted, but symptoms usually occur within seven days. Lymph glands in the adjacent area may swell.
Deaths are rare with appropriate antimicrobial therapy.
After several days, the symptoms may progress to severe breathing problems and shock. Intestinal - The intestinal disease form of anthrax may follow the consumption of contaminated meat and is characterized by an acute inflammation of the intestinal tract. Initial signs of nausea, loss of appetite, vomiting and fever are followed by abdominal pain, vomiting of blood, and severe diarrhea. Symptoms include a muscosal lesion in the oral cavity or oropharynx, cervical adenopathy and edema, and fever. This form is very rare, and death rates are unknown.