Re: RC: Anthrax/Jeans whilst riding

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated Fri, 5 Oct 2001 11:45:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time, "beth glover" <bgloverhrsewmn@hotmail.com> writes:

> Hi ridecampers...so do horses get anthrax, or just us? And cattle. Some gentleman in Florida has Anthrax now, and he traveled around a lot. I wonder if it is transmissible by air--as in if one person coughs, can another person get it. Or is it transmissible by contact only.

Anthrax is not transmissible directly from patient to patient.  The bacteria that causes it ensporulates in the ground where animals have died of it.  It is transmitted by either coming in contact with the soil containing the ensporulated bacteria (so yes, the gardening might be a possibility if he got some sort of contaminated soil brought in) or with parts of the dead animals.  Improperly cooked bone meal is a possible source.  Yes, horses can get it.

It pays to avoid areas where there have been known deaths due to antrhax, but there is no reason to be concerned about airborne infection or contact with living critters (human or 4-legged).  The scary part about the transmissibility is that the spores can live in soil for several years, so it is difficult to know if something died of anthrax in a particular spot 20 years ago.  And outbreaks get going when one critter dies of it and everything from birds to other critters start licking and feeding on the dead body before the problem is determined.

Heidi