An eschar is a coal-black scab associated with which disease?

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An eschar is a coal-black scab that is most characteristic of cutaneous anthrax. After exposure to Bacillus anthracis, the infection begins as a painless papule that enlarges and becomes a vesicle, then a deep ulcer with surrounding edema. The center necroses and turns black, forming the distinctive eschar. This specific progression and the black, painless necrotic center are hallmark clues for anthrax and help set it apart from other diseases that can cause skin lesions, such as smallpox (which features a vesicular-pustular rash with crusts), tularemia (ulcers without the classic black eschar), or plague (which typically presents with buboes and systemic symptoms rather than a coal-black eschar).