A clinical note on an outbreak of cutaneous anthrax in the Lundi native reserve

Abstract

A CAJM article on an outbreak of anthrax in a province of Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) in the 1950's.Twenty-two cases of cutaneous anthrax were admitted in January, 1954, to the Lundi Clinic in the Shabani district, and three further cases were seen shortly after. The first two cases were admitted with lesions on the hand and shoulder. These, most aptly covered by the term “ malignant pustule,” consisted of a small dark or black necrotic centre surrounded by a rim of vesicles and pustules, and beyond that a ring of cellulitis and oedema of varying extent. Constitutional symptoms were marked, the temperature rising to- 104° F. The lesion progressed characteristically to form a central, black, concave eschar up to 1 inch. in diameter, surrounded by a rim of vesicles and a decreasing area of cellulitis and oedema. Many cases were admitted in this stage, with only slight constitutional disturbance