Tularemia is a rare infectious disease that usually attacks the skin, eyes, lymph nodes, and lungs. Also called hare fever or rabbit fever, it is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis .
Tularemia spreads to humans through several routes, including insect bites and direct exposure to an infected animal. It is a highly contagious and life-threatening disease.
Causes
Although humans can get sick from tularemia, it is not a naturally occurring disease in us. The disease mainly affects mammals, especially rodents, rabbits, and hares, although it can also infect birds, sheep, and domestic animals, such as dogs, cats, and hamsters.
How can I get tularemia?
-From insect bites, especially from a fly or tick that act as vectors between animals and people.
-Come into contact with the skin, hair or meat of an infected animal
-Consuming contaminated food or water, such as undercooked meat
-Breathe bacteria that come out of the ground during construction or gardening work.
It is also possible to become infected by being exposed to the bacteria in a laboratory setting, or potentially, in an act of bioterrorism.
Tularemia can occur anywhere in the world, but it is more common in rural areas where animals are more likely to become infected with the bacteria. It can survive in soil, water, and dead animals for weeks; this is why it can cause infections in many different ways.
Symptoms
Most people exposed to tularemia become ill within three to five days, although it can take up to fourteen days for the first symptoms to appear. There are several types of tularemia, and it depends on how and where the bacteria enter the body. Each type of tularemia has its own set of symptoms.
There are four subspecies of F. tularensis , all of which are capable of causing disease in humans ( F. tularensis, F. holarctica, F. mediasiatica, and F. novicida) . The subspecies tularensis and holarctica are the most common causes of tularemia in humans.
Tularemia ulceroglandular
This is the most common form of the disease. Signs and symptoms include: a skin ulcer that forms at the site of infection, usually an insect or animal bite, swollen and painful lymph nodes, fever, cold, headache, and exhaustion.
Tularemia glandular
People with glandular tularemia have the same signs and symptoms of ulceroglandular tularemia, but without skin ulcers.
Tularemia oculoglandular
This type of tularemia affects the eyes more and can cause: eye pain, redness of the eyes, eye swelling and discharge, ulcer on the inside of the eyelid and sensitivity to light.
Oropharyngeal tularemia
Usually caused by eating undercooked wild animal meat or drinking contaminated water, this form affects the mouth, throat, and digestive tract. Signs and symptoms include: fever, sore throat, mouth ulcers, vomiting, diarrhea, swollen tonsils, and swollen lymph nodes in the neck.
Pneumonic tularemia
This type of tularemia causes typical signs and symptoms of pneumonia : dry cough, chest pain, and shortness of breath.
Other forms of tularemia can also spread to the lungs.
Typhoid tularemia
This rare and serious form of the disease usually causes: high fever, extreme exhaustion, vomiting and diarrhea, an enlarged spleen (splenomegaly) or liver (hepatomegaly), and pneumonia.
Who is at risk?
Tularemia is a fairly rare disease, but there are certain factors that can increase the risk of developing tularemia:
– Work in a laboratory, farmer, vet, hunter, landscaper, wildlife manager, or meat handler.
-Live or visit the central and southern states of the United States
-Hunting or gardening. Wild animals can be infected with tularemia, and removing the soil can lead to the release of bacteria.
Is tularemia contagious?
Tularemia is not transmitted from person to person, so there is no period of contagion. However, some experts consider tularemia to be highly contagious to humans from environmental sources due to the small number of bacteria that are needed to cause life-threatening infections and these organisms can survive in cool, humid environments for weeks or months.
How can you prevent contagion
– Not using bare hands to skin wild animals
– Avoid touching sick or dead animals.
– Wear clothing that covers exposed skin
– Use insect repellants
– Drink clean water
– Cook wild meats completely
– Protect pets against fleas and ticks: Cattle and pets can get tularemia if they eat part of a sick rabbit or are bitten by an infected tick.
– Wear a safety mask when digging the ground, clearing weeds, or brushing or mowing the garden.
It is not a disease to be taken lightly, because without treatment, 30 to 60% of people with this disease can die, according to the Ministry of Health.
