Editing Anthrax (section)

=== Exposure and transmission ===
Anthrax can enter the human body through the intestines (gastrointestinal), lungs (pulmonary), or skin (cutaneous), and causes distinct clinical symptoms based on its site of entry.<ref name=":5" /> Anthrax does not usually spread from an infected human to an uninfected human.<ref name=":5" /> If the disease is fatal to the person's body, its mass of anthrax bacilli becomes a potential source of infection to others and special precautions should be used to prevent further contamination.<ref name=":5" /> Pulmonary anthrax, if left untreated, is almost always fatal.<ref name=":5" /> Historically, pulmonary anthrax was called woolsorters' disease because it was an occupational hazard for [[Wool classing|people who sorted wool]].<ref name=":6">{{cite journal | vauthors = Metcalfe N | title = The history of woolsorters' disease: a Yorkshire beginning with an international future? | journal = Occupational Medicine | volume = 54 | issue = 7 | pages = 489–93 | date = October 2004 | pmid = 15486181 | doi = 10.1093/occmed/kqh115 }}</ref> Today, this form of infection is extremely rare in industrialized nations.<ref name=":6" /> Cutaneous anthrax is the most common form of transmission but also the least dangerous of the three transmissions.<ref name=":4" /> Gastrointestinal anthrax is likely fatal if left untreated, but very rare.<ref name=":4" />[[File:Anthrax - inhalational.jpg|thumb|Inhalational anthrax, [[mediastinum|mediastinal]] widening]]The spores of anthrax are able to survive in harsh conditions for decades or even centuries.<ref>{{Cite web | vauthors = Bloomfield R |date=2012-04-12 |title=Crossrail work stopped after human bones found on site |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/crossrail-work-stopped-after-human-bones-found-on-site-6759649.html |access-date=2023-11-02 |website=Evening Standard |language=en |archive-date=25 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231025123650/https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/crossrail-work-stopped-after-human-bones-found-on-site-6759649.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Such spores can be found on all continents, including Antarctica.<ref>{{Cite journal | vauthors = Hudson JA, Daniel RM, Morgan HW |title=Acidophilic and thermophilic Bacillus strains from geothermally heated antarctic soil |journal=FEMS Microbiology Letters |volume=60 |issue=3 |date=August 1989 |pages=279–82 |doi=10.1111/j.1574-6968.1989.tb03486.x |doi-access=free }}</ref> Disturbed grave sites of infected animals have been known to cause infection after 70 years.<ref>{{Cite book | vauthors = Guillemin J |url=http://archive.org/details/anthraxinvestiga0000guil |title=Anthrax : the investigation of a deadly outbreak |date=1999 |publisher=Berkeley : University of California Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-520-22204-5}}</ref> In one such event, a young boy died from gastrointestinal anthrax due to the thawing of reindeer corpses from 75 years before contact.<ref name=":7">{{Cite magazine | vauthors = Luhn A |date=August 8, 2016 |title=Siberian Child Dies After Climate Change Thaws an Anthrax-Infected Reindeer |url=https://www.wired.com/2016/08/child-dead-climate-change-thawed-anthrax-infected-reindeer/ |access-date=2023-11-02 |magazine=Wired |language=en-US |issn=1059-1028 |archive-date=17 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160817043745/http://www.wired.com/2016/08/child-dead-climate-change-thawed-anthrax-infected-reindeer/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Anthrax spores traveled though groundwater used for drinking and caused tens of people to be hospitalized, largely children.<ref name=":7" /> Occupational exposure to infected animals or their products (such as skin, wool, and meat) is the usual pathway of exposure for humans.<ref name=":8">{{Citation |title=Anthrax in humans |date=2008 |url=https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310487/ |work=Anthrax in Humans and Animals|edition=4th |access-date=2023-11-02 |publisher=World Health Organization |language=en |archive-date=18 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220618172116/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK310487/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Workers exposed to dead animals and animal products are at the highest risk, especially in countries where anthrax is more common.<ref name=":8" /> Anthrax in [[livestock]] grazing on open range where they mix with wild animals still occasionally occurs in the U.S. and elsewhere.<ref name=":8" />

Many workers who deal with wool and animal hides are routinely exposed to low levels of anthrax spores, but most exposure levels are not sufficient to produce infection.<ref name=":9">{{cite book |vauthors=Chambers J, Yarrarapu SN, Mathai JK |chapter=Anthrax Infection |date=2023 |chapter-url=http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535379/ |title=StatPearls |access-date=2023-11-02 |place=Treasure Island (FL) |publisher=StatPearls Publishing |pmid=30571000 |archive-date=28 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220428091329/https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535379/ |url-status=live }}</ref> A lethal infection is reported to result from inhalation of about 10,000–20,000 spores, though this dose varies among host species.<ref name=":9" />