Anthrax
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Fact sheet - Health conditions directory
Information for general practitioners - Health conditions directory
Anthrax is a disease caused by bacteria carried by wild and domestic animals that eat plants. These bacteria can form spores, which allows the bacteria to survive in the environment for a long time. Anthrax is now very rare in Australia. Since 2001 there have only been three human cases of anthrax in Australia, in 2006, 2007 and 2010. All of these cases had skin infections caused by exposure to anthrax spores.
Public health management guidelines
Notification
Pathology laboratories
Public health units
Notification resources
- List of all Pathological, clinical and provisional diagnosis notifiable conditions
- List of Public Health Unit contacts
- Notifiable conditions report form for Queensland doctors/clinicians (PHA S70) or person in charge of a Hospital (PHA S71) (PDF, 77kB) - if faxing notification, follow up by phone.
Enhanced surveillance for public health units
- Case report form (PDF, 504kB) - used by public health units to collect and manage more detailed
information for enhanced case surveillance.
Resources for health professionals
- Australian Government Anthrax guidelines - Australia's public health response plan for anthrax.
- Accessing Medicinal Products held in the National Medical Stockpile (PDF, 353kB)
Epidemiological data and reports
Last updated: 5 June 2023
