Tularemia
- What is tularemia?
- Is tularemia in Vermont?
- How is tularemia spread?
- What are the symptoms of tularemia?
- Who is at risk for getting tularemia?
- What is the treatment for tularemia?
- What can be done to prevent the spread of tularemia?
- More Information
- Printer-friendly PDF version here
What is tularemia?
Tularemia, also known as rabbit fever or deerfly fever, is caused the bacteria Francisella tularensis. There are several ways that humans can become infected with tularemia, including tick and deerfly bites, contact with infected animals, ingestion of contaminated water, and inhalation of contaminated dusts or aerosols. The clinical presentation of tularemia and severity of symptoms vary depending upon the mode of transmission, but most patients recover completely with antibiotic treatment.
Is Tularemia in Vermont?
Anyone who spends time outdoors in areas where infected animals or insects are found can get tularemia. Rabbit hunters and trappers are at a greater risk for exposure to this disease.
How is tularemia spread?
Tularemia is an extremely infectious disease with multiple modes of transmission. The most common route is through direct inoculation, which results from infected blood or tissue coming into contact with broken skin or mucous membranes. This can occur while handling, dressing or skinning infected animals, or when a person butchering an infected animal touches his or her eyes. The animals that are most commonly associated with tularemia are rabbits and hares, but muskrats, squirrels and rodents have also been known to carry the disease.
In addition, bacteria may enter the body through contact with fluids from infected flies or through the bite of an infected tick. Drinking contaminated water, breathing contaminated dust, and eating insufficiently cooked meat from infected rabbit or hare are other possible means of transmission. Tularemia CANNOT be spread from one person to another.
What are the symptoms of tularemia?
The symptoms of tularemia vary depending upon the route of transmission. Frequently, they include sudden onset of a fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, chest pain and coughing. When the disease is transmitted through a break in the skin, an ulcer usually forms near the site of exposure and nearby lymph glands become swollen. If the bacteria come into contact with an eye, irritation of the eye may occur, accompanied by swelling of the lymph glands in front of the ear.
Eating or drinking contaminated food or water may produce a throat infection, stomach pain, vomiting and diarrhea, and breathing in the organism may cause a fever with or without a pneumonia-like illness. Illness is fatal in 5% of untreated cases, and complications can lead to bone infection, meningitis, pneumonia and respiratory failure.
Who is at risk for getting tularemia?
Anyone who spends time outdoors where infected animals or insects are found is at risk of contracting the disease. Tularemia has been documented in every state of the United States except Hawaii, and most infections occur between May and August. Rabbit hunters and trappers are at a heightened risk for exposure to this disease and in areas with a lot of tularemia, landscapers and people who mow lawns are at an increased risk as well.
What is the treatment for tularemia?
Antibiotics are effective in treating tularemia. Although symptoms may last for several weeks, most patients completely recover. A vaccine for tularemia is under review by the Food and Drug Administration but is not currently available in the United States.
What can be done to prevent the spread of tularemia?
When hiking, camping or working outdoors:
- Use insect repellants containing 20% to 30% DEET, picaridin or IR3535.
- Wear long pants, long sleeves, and long socks to keep tick and deer flies off your skin.
- Remove attached ticks promptly with fine-tipped tweezers.
- Don’t drink untreated surface water.
When mowing or landscaping:
- Don’t mow over sick or dead animals
- Consider using dust masks to reduce your risk of inhaling the bacteria.
When hunting, trapping or skin animals:
- Use gloves when handling animals, especially rabbits and other rodents
- Cook game meat thoroughly
- Click here for more information on personal prevention.
More Information
- Tularemia - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Resources for the public, clinicians, and other health care professionals
- Call the Vermont Department of Health, Epidemiology Field Unit
1-800-640-4374 (in VT only), or 1-802-863-7240.