Summary: Tularemia is also known as rabbit fever or deer tick fever. It is caused by a bacterium called Francisella tularensis. It is an infectious disease that affects mammals especially rabbits and sometimes dogs and cats. This disease normally is spread to humans through insect bites and can cause sores to appear on the skin, eyes, or lymph nodes. There are several different types of Tularemia, all with different symptoms. If diagnosed early enough there are multiple antibiotics to help treat this disease.
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Description: Tularemia can be transmitted in many ways causing different symptoms to occur. One way a person can develop Tularemia is from deer-fly or tick bites. These insect bites cause people to experience Ulceroglandular Tularemia which affects mainly a person’s lymph nodes. Another way to come across this disease would be by handling infected animals while hunting and skinning them. By coming into contact with the infected animal’s skin or eating it, it can cause a person to develop Oropharyngeal Tularemia. Last, but not least, a person can develop Pneumonic Tularemia by airborne bacteria, which is bacteria that is inhaled while gardening or doing laboratory work outside.
Symptoms: Symptoms normally occur three to five days after a person comes in contact with the bacteria. However, it may take up to two weeks for them to occur depending on which type of Tularemia a person has developed.
Ulceroglandular Tularemia Symptoms:
- skin ulcers
- swollen lymph nodes
- fever
- chills
- headache
Oropharyngeal Tularemia Symptoms:
- fever
- throat pains
- mouth ulcers
- vomiting
- diarrhea
- inflamed tonsils
- swollen lymph nodes
Pneumonic Tularemia Symptoms:
- dry cough
- chest pains
- difficulty breathing
Diagnosis: Since many of the symptoms of Tularemia are similar to common illnesses it is very difficult to diagnose. In order to diagnose a patient, the doctors will run blood tests and take cultures to look for F. tularensis, the bacteria that causes Tularemia. They may have to grow the cultures for a week before seeing any results. If someone has Pneumonic Tularemia most doctors will take an x-ray of the patient’s chest to look for signs of pneumonia. This is because of the similar symptoms these diseases have. Even though Tularemia can occur all over the United States it is most common in rural areas such as Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, and Kansas.
Treatments: There are multiple types of antibiotics that can help treat the symptoms of Tularemia. Some antibiotics such as streptomycin and gentamicin are given through a series of injections while doxycycline is given orally. The treatments usually last 10 to 21 days depending on how severe the illness is. Most patients will completely recover, however there are some people who may have a recurrence. In order to prevent developing Tularemia, people should take precaution while being outside hunting, mowing the lawn, and hiking through the woods. Some preventative measures they could take would be to wear bug spray that contains DEET in it, not mowing over dead animals, and wearing gloves while hunting rabbits. All of these steps will help individuals avoid getting symptoms associated with Tularemia.
References:
“Tularemia”; mayoclinic.org; https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/tularemia/symptoms-causes/syc-20378635
“Tularemia”; cdc.gov; https://www.cdc.gov/tularemia/index.html
“Rare Disease Database-Tularemia”; National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD.org) https://rarediseases.org/rare-diseases/tularemia/