Death occurs approximately 24 hours after the initial signs of illness. Animals may hemorrhage from the mouth, nose and anus. Cattle, sheep and horses are most commonly affected animals with this form of anthrax. Death can be caused from suffocation. This form of illness has been reported most often in swine, but also occurs in horses and dogs.
Anthrax is a disease of humans as well as animals.
Cutaneous or skin anthrax, the most common human disease form, results when the organism enters broken skin. Two to 5 days after the spore gets into a wound, a reddened, papular lesion develops, which commonly is mistaken for an insect bite. With antibiotic treatment, deaths from cutaneous anthrax are rare. The pulmonary form of anthrax is rare and is caused by the inhalation of spores from contaminated dust, wool or hair. This form has been documented in workers in wool or hair processing mills.