It does not appear in the form of epidemics, but single cases appear frequently or rarely, and there is seemingly no extension from case to case, animals in adjoining stalls to the sick are not more prone to infection than others of the herd.

On examination after death the blood is dark and fluid, the spleen is greatly enlarged (one of the names of the disease "splenic fever" indicates the relation to the spleen) and there is often bloody fluid in the tissues.
Where the disease is prevalent there are numbers of human cases.

Only those become infected who come into close relations with cattle, the infection most commonly taking place from small wounds or scratches made in skinning dead cattle or in handling hides.

The wool of sheep who die of the disease finds its way into commerce, and those employed in handling the wool have a form of anthrax known as wool-sorters' disease in which lesions are found in the lungs, the organisms being mingled with the wool dust and inspired.

In Boston occasional cases of anthrax appear in teamsters who are employed in handling and carrying hides.