Creator: Dr. Trupti Shirole
Keywords: anthrax diagnosis, skin lesions, blood tests, chest X-ray, respiratory secretions, B. anthracis

Written by Dr. Trupti Shirole, BAMS, CGO
Medically Reviewed by The Medindia Medical Review Team on Sep 26, 2014

How can we Diagnose Anthrax?

Anthrax is diagnosed by isolating B. anthracis from the blood, skin lesions, or respiratory secretions or by measuring specific antibodies in the blood of persons with suspected cases.

Tests may include-

Cutaneous - Vesicular fluid testing and blood tests
Inhalational - Blood tests, cerebrospinal fluid (if meningeal signs are present) or chest X-ray.
Gastrointestinal - Blood tests.

Fluid or blood samples can be sent to a special laboratory for further testing, including PCR, immunofluorescence and immunohistochemistry.

Published on Sep 26, 2014
Last Updated on Sep 26, 2014

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