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Which disease did Avicenna call Persian fire?

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Avicenna The title page of the 1556 edition of Avicenna's *The Canon of Medicine* (*Al-Qanun fi al-Tibb*). This edition (sometimes called the 1556 Basel edition) was translated by medieval scholar Gerard of Cremona.

Avicenna described the condition known as "Persian fire" as anthrax.1

While some historical sources have occasionally associated the term with other skin conditions, such as erysipelas, Avicenna's specific clinical descriptions in his medical writings identify it as anthrax.21