Anthrax Cases Associated with Animal-Hair Shaving Brushes

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.

Keywords: Anthrax; Bacillus anthracis; animal hair; bacteria; disinfection; fomites; shaving brushes; warfare; zoonoses.

Figure

Timeline of use of shaving brushes and anthrax, 1915—1989. Case totals for the United States were reported in 1924 and 1930 and included 2 cases for 1927 through mid-1929, but the exact year of occurrence was unspecified (5,6). Data for English-language case descriptions were obtained from a systematic review of systemic anthrax cases published during 1880–2013 (7). Individual cases were reported from the United States, with the following exceptions: 1917, 1 definite case from England; 1918, 2 definite cases from Canada; 1920, 1 definite case from England; 1924, 1 possible case from South Africa; 1935, 1 definite case from Trinidad (8); and 1989, 1 possible case from India (9).