Illness contracted by applicant HR axed (7)

I believe the answer is:

anthrax

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'illness' is the definition.
(I know that anthrax is a type of disease)

'contracted by applicant hr axed' is the wordplay.
'ANTHRAX' is hidden within the letters.
However, I'm not sure how the hidden word is indicated.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for anthrax that I've seen before include "Disease associated with sheep" , "Disease of herbivores" , "Nasty illness" , "could ruin stock market" , "Bacterial disease of sheep and cattle" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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