Isolation of anthrax bacillus from a shaving mug

Abstract

During the last few years many cases of anthrax have occurred in man from the use of shaving brushes contaminated with anthrax bacilli. Lederer and Leak1 state that due to the mobilization of large forces in the warring nations the demand for shaving brushes soon exceeded the supply, and bristles from questionable sources were employed in their manufacture and outbreaks of anthrax reported followed as a logical consequence. Among English troops in France 28 cases occurred from 1915 to February, 1917. Eighteen infections with anthrax occurred among the troops in England from the beginning of the war until February, 1917. The most thoroughly studied series, however, was that of 19 civilian cases in Great Britain. In most of these cases the proof of the source of infection was absolute, and in other cases circumstantial evidence was strong. Norton and Kohman 2 report a fatal case in a soldier following the use of a shaving brush recently purchased by the patient and which contained anthrax bacilli. Symmers and Cady3 examined 40 shaving brushes purchased from pedlers in New York and from shops, and 3 were found to harbor virulent anthrax bacilli. Casey4 found that the isolation of anthrax bacilli from shaving brushes is accomplished better by animal inoculation than by culture.