What are the clinical signs of anthrax?

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Anthrax manifests as a rapidly fatal septicemia with distinctive postmortem signs, so the best answer highlights those hallmark features. The combination of blood appearing from natural openings and the very rapid decomposition reflects the severe, toxin-driven vascular damage and systemic collapse caused by Bacillus anthracis. Incomplete rigor mortis also fits this picture because the toxins disrupt normal muscle energy processes, altering the usual dead-body changes. The note that diagnosing without broader context is hard from cerebrospinal fluid alone acknowledges that anthrax meningitis is not typically diagnosed by CSF in isolation; meningitis from anthrax is uncommon and CSF findings are not specific. The other options don’t align with the classic presentation of anthrax, which is not defined by a fever with a diffuse rash, a chronic cough, or abdominal pain.