Between 1945 and 1951, there were 372 reported anthrax cases, with over 300 cases occurring in the seven northeastern states and linked to industrial exposures. Twenty-nine cases were associated with agriculture exposures and were reported as cutaneous anthrax. Additionally, there were 658 outbreaks of anthrax among animals between 1945 and 1950, and an estimated 8,505 died as a result.
In 1951 and 1952, numerous anthrax outbreaks among animals were reported and linked to bone meal. Most cases occurred in Indiana, Ohio, and other Midwestern states. There were no human cases associated with this outbreak. The use of penicillin and anthrax antiserum assisted in halting the outbreak.
Despite an increase in animal anthrax cases, there were fewer human cases and no reports of transmission from animals to humans through meat or milk. Antibiotics were considered effective against anthrax, and public health officials believed that the use of antibiotics could potentially replace antiserum.
By the 1950s, cases and deaths from anthrax had dropped significantly in the U.S.; however, disease rates remained high in most countries globally. Countries with higher rates were noted to have poor sanitation practices, and health officials suspected that rates were likely even higher than what was being reported. There were 45 reported anthrax cases in the U.S. in 1953.
The first known outbreak of inhalation anthrax in the U.S. occurred in 1957 at a goat hair factory in New Hampshire. Five individuals developed inhalation anthrax within ten weeks. Four cases were fatal. In total, for 1957, there were 26 reported anthrax cases.
In 1960, 23 anthrax cases were reported. All cases were cutaneous and none fatal. Twenty were associated with industrial exposures, with 15 reported from one South Carolina mill that had recently begun processing imported goat hair. This increased from 1959 when 15 cases were reported, and from 1958, which had 17 reported cases.
Anthrax cases continued to decline, and during the 1960s, there were an average of five cases per year and a total of two deaths. By 1980, an average of two cases occurred yearly. Rates continued to decrease, and between 1981 and 2000, there were only six reported anthrax cases.
In the fall of 2001, 22 cases and five deaths from anthrax occurred due to an anthrax bioterrorism attack. Additionally, one separate anthrax case was reported in 2001 and traced to an anthrax-infected animal.
Between 2002 to 2020, nine human anthrax cases were reported in the United States. Several of these cases resulted from exposure to drums made from anthrax-contaminated animal skins.
