Anthrax Cases Associated with Animal-Hair Shaving Brushes. Academic Article uri icon

Overview

abstract

  • During the First World War, anthrax cases in the United States and England increased greatly and seemed to be associated with use of new shaving brushes. Further investigation revealed that the source material and origin of shaving brushes had changed during the war. Cheap brushes of imported horsehair were being made to look like the preferred badger-hair brushes. Unfortunately, some of these brushes were not effectively disinfected and brought with them a nasty stowaway: Bacillus anthracis. A review of outbreak summaries, surveillance data, and case reports indicated that these cases originated from the use of ineffectively disinfected animal-hair shaving brushes. This historical information is relevant to current public health practice because renewed interest in vintage and animal-hair shaving brushes has been seen in popular culture. This information should help healthcare providers and public health officials answer questions on this topic.

publication date

  • May 1, 2017

Research

keywords

  • Anthrax
  • Bacillus anthracis
  • Hair

Identity

PubMed Central ID

  • PMC5403022

Scopus Document Identifier

  • 85018662010

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

  • 10.3201/eid2305.161554

PubMed ID

  • 28418302

Additional Document Info

volume

  • 23

issue

  • 5