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Tularemia Causes and Risks:
Humans can contract the disease from direct contact with an infected animal or carcass via broken skin; from the bite of an infected flea or tick ; or from ingesting infected meat (rare). Endemic areas (areas where the disorder occurs most commonly) include North America and parts of Europe and Asia. The illness may continue for several weeks after the onset of symptoms. Some people may develop an atypical pneumonia . Risk factors include recent exposure to rabbits or recent tick bite . The disease affects approximately 1 in 100,000 people per year.
Prevention:
A vaccine is recommended for people at high risk (trappers, hunters, and laboratory workers).
Symptoms:
Signs and Tests:
This disease may also alter the results of febrile/cold agglutinins .
Treatment:
The goal of treatment is to eliminate the infection with antibiotic therapy. Streptomycin and tetracycline are commonly used in this infection.
Note: oral tetracycline is usually not prescribed for children until after all the permanent teeth have erupted; it can permanently discolor teeth that are still forming.
Prognosis:
Tularemia is fatal in about 5% of untreated cases, and in less than 1% with treatment.
Complications:
Call Your Healthcare Provider:
Call your health care provider if symptoms develop after a rodent bite, tick bite , or exposure to the flesh of a wild animal.
This is an illustration of deer and wood ticks. Diseases are often carried by ticks. These diseases include: Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Colorado Tick Fever, Lyme disease, and tularemia. Less common or less frequent diseases include typhus, Q-fever, relapsing fever, viral encephalitis, hemorrhagic fever, and babesiosis.
There are many species of ticks. Of these, a large proportion are capable of carrying disease. Diseases carried by ticks include Lyme disease, Erlichiosis, Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, Colorado Tick Fever, tularemia, typhus, Q fever, hemorrhagic fever, and viral encephalitis. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.)
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) maintain statistics on diseases, including Lyme disease. This graph shows the proportion of lyme disease compared to other diseases that are spread by contact with an animal or insect bite. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.)
This is one suggested method of tick removal. Care must be taken not to squeeze the body of the tick, as this may force infectious fluid back into the skin. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.)
This photograph shows the natural habitat of ticks. Note that this is a park campground intended for both adults and children. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control.
Ticks often hang from overhead branches and drop when they sense body heat below. A favorite site for ticks is the hairline on the back of the neck. (Courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and B. McKie.)
This is a close-up photograph of a tick embedded in the skin. Ticks are important because they can carry diseases such as Rocky Mountain spotted fever, tularemia, Colorado tick fever, Lyme disease, and others.
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