ragpicker's disease
Noun: A severe and often fatal infectious disease caused by inhaling spores of the bacterium Bacillus anthracis. It is a form of inhalation anthrax historically associated with handling contaminated animal materials like hides or wool. The initial symptoms resemble a severe respiratory illness, followed by a rapid and drastic failure of the cardiovascular system.
This term is a specific, historical name for inhalation anthrax, particularly in occupational contexts. * The medical report listed the cause of death as ragpicker's disease, contracted from handling contaminated hides. * Ragpicker's disease was a recognized occupational hazard in the early textile and tanning industries.
- The term ragpicker's disease is now largely archaic in clinical medicine, having been replaced by the more precise terms inhalation anthrax or pulmonary anthrax.
- It serves as a historical reference to a pre-industrial and early industrial occupational illness.
- Inhalation anthrax (n): The modern medical term for the disease.
- Pulmonary anthrax (n): A synonym for inhalation anthrax.
- Woolsorter's disease (n): A nearly identical historical term for the same illness, associated with the wool processing industry.
- Inhalation anthrax
- Pulmonary anthrax
- Woolsorter's disease (historical)
This term refers exclusively to the inhalation route of anthrax infection. It is distinct from other forms of anthrax, such as cutaneous anthrax (which affects the skin) or gastrointestinal anthrax. The name originates from the historical risk to individuals who sorted rags and other discarded materials, which could be contaminated with anthrax spores.
- a form of anthrax infection acquired by inhalation of dust containing Bacillus anthracis; initial symptoms (chill and cough and dyspnea and rapid pulse) are followed by extreme cardiovascular collapse