anthrax

noun

Etymology: From Ancient Greek ἄνθραξ (ánthrax, “abscess, boil”).

1. An acute infectious disease of herbivores, especially sheep and cattle, caused by Bacillus anthracis.

   “After anthrax spores were found in letters sent to Sens. Patrick Leahy and Thomas Daschle in 2001, Congress began screening all the mail that came into the building.”

2. The human disease that can occur in humans through contact with infected herbivores, tissue from infected animals, or high concentrations of anthrax spores, but is not usually spread between humans, with symptoms including lesions on the skin or in the lungs, often fatal.