Symptoms:

There are usually two stages of inhalation anthrax:

• Stage one can last from hours to a few days. Symptoms may resemble a cold or the flu, and can include fever, chills, sweating, fatigue, malaise, headache, cough, shortness of breath, and chest pain.
• Stage two often develops suddenly. Symptoms include fever, severe shortness of breath, and shock.

This list of symptoms is based on a relatively small number of people who have had inhalation anthrax. Additional symptoms may occur.

Signs and tests:

Tests may include:

• Chest x-ray
• Blood cultures
• Sputum cultures

Initial chest x-rays are likely to show abnormalities such as fluid surrounding the lungs or abnormally wide space between the lungs.

Fluid or blood samples may need to be sent to a lab for more specialized testing.

A spinal tap for CSF culture and a gram stain also may be performed.