Symptoms:

• Cutaneous anthrax: Blister or ulcer that later forms a black scab, and is usually surrounded by a lot of swelling
• Inhalation anthrax: Begins with fever, malaise, headache, cough, shortness of breath, and chest pain; shock may occur in the second stage
• Gastrointestinal anthrax: Nausea and vomiting (the vomit may include blood), anorexia, and bloody diarrhea

Signs and tests:

The tests to diagnose anthrax depend on the type of disease suspected.

• If cutaneous anthrax is suspected, you may have a culture of the skin sore to test for the bacteria that causes anthrax.
• If inhalational anthrax is suspected, you may need a chest x-ray, blood cultures, sputum cultures, spinal tap for CSF culture, or gram stain. Samples may be sent to a special lab for more testing, including PCR, immunofluorescence, and immunohistochemistry.