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Tularemia
Tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. Symptoms may include fever, skin ulcers, and enlarged lymph nodes. Occasionally, a form that results in pneumonia or a throat and nasal sinus infection may occur.
The bacterium is typically spread by ticks, deer flies, or contact with infected animals. It may also be spread by drinking contaminated water or breathing in contaminated dust. It does not spread directly between people. Diagnosis is by blood tests or cultures of the infected site.
Prevention includes the use of insect repellent and long pants, rapidly removing ticks, and not disturbing dead animals. Treatment is typically with the antibiotic streptomycin. Gentamicin, doxycycline, or ciprofloxacin may also be used.
Between the 1970s and 2015, around 200 cases were reported in the United States each year. Males are affected more often than females. It occurs most frequently in the young and the middle-aged. In the United States, most cases occur in the summer. The disease is named after Tulare County, California, where the disease was discovered in 1911. Several other animals, such as rabbits, may also be infected.
Depending on the site of infection, tularemia has six characteristic clinical variants: ulceroglandular (the most common type representing 75% of all forms), glandular, oropharyngeal, pneumonic, oculoglandular, and typhoidal.
The incubation period for tularemia is 1 to 14 days; most human infections become apparent after three to five days. In most susceptible mammals, the clinical signs include fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, signs of sepsis, and possibly death. Nonhuman mammals rarely develop the skin lesions seen in people. Subclinical infections are common, and animals often develop specific antibodies to the organism. Fever is moderate or very high, and tularemia bacilli can be isolated from blood cultures at this stage. The face and eyes redden and become inflamed. Inflammation spreads to the lymph nodes, which enlarge and may suppurate (mimicking bubonic plague). A high fever accompanies lymph node involvement.
Tularemia is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis which is typically spread by ticks, deer flies, and contact with infected animals.
The bacteria can penetrate into the body through damaged skin, mucous membranes, and inhalation. Humans are most often infected by a tick/deer fly bite or through handling an infected animal. Ingesting infected water, soil, or food can also cause infection. Hunters are at a higher risk of this disease because of the potential of inhaling the bacteria during the skinning process. It has been contracted from inhaling particles from an infected rabbit ground up in a lawnmower (see below). Tularemia is not spread directly from person to person. Humans can also be infected through bioterrorism attempts.
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Tularemia
Tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. Symptoms may include fever, skin ulcers, and enlarged lymph nodes. Occasionally, a form that results in pneumonia or a throat and nasal sinus infection may occur.
The bacterium is typically spread by ticks, deer flies, or contact with infected animals. It may also be spread by drinking contaminated water or breathing in contaminated dust. It does not spread directly between people. Diagnosis is by blood tests or cultures of the infected site.
Prevention includes the use of insect repellent and long pants, rapidly removing ticks, and not disturbing dead animals. Treatment is typically with the antibiotic streptomycin. Gentamicin, doxycycline, or ciprofloxacin may also be used.
Between the 1970s and 2015, around 200 cases were reported in the United States each year. Males are affected more often than females. It occurs most frequently in the young and the middle-aged. In the United States, most cases occur in the summer. The disease is named after Tulare County, California, where the disease was discovered in 1911. Several other animals, such as rabbits, may also be infected.
Depending on the site of infection, tularemia has six characteristic clinical variants: ulceroglandular (the most common type representing 75% of all forms), glandular, oropharyngeal, pneumonic, oculoglandular, and typhoidal.
The incubation period for tularemia is 1 to 14 days; most human infections become apparent after three to five days. In most susceptible mammals, the clinical signs include fever, lethargy, loss of appetite, signs of sepsis, and possibly death. Nonhuman mammals rarely develop the skin lesions seen in people. Subclinical infections are common, and animals often develop specific antibodies to the organism. Fever is moderate or very high, and tularemia bacilli can be isolated from blood cultures at this stage. The face and eyes redden and become inflamed. Inflammation spreads to the lymph nodes, which enlarge and may suppurate (mimicking bubonic plague). A high fever accompanies lymph node involvement.
Tularemia is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis which is typically spread by ticks, deer flies, and contact with infected animals.
The bacteria can penetrate into the body through damaged skin, mucous membranes, and inhalation. Humans are most often infected by a tick/deer fly bite or through handling an infected animal. Ingesting infected water, soil, or food can also cause infection. Hunters are at a higher risk of this disease because of the potential of inhaling the bacteria during the skinning process. It has been contracted from inhaling particles from an infected rabbit ground up in a lawnmower (see below). Tularemia is not spread directly from person to person. Humans can also be infected through bioterrorism attempts.