Tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever”, is a rare but highly infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. It is usually transmitted through insect bites or contaminated water or soil, and symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, and skin ulcers. While it can be fatal if left untreated, it is easily treated with antibiotics. Tularemia has been developed as a bioweapon by some nations, making its potential uses a concern for governments.
Tularemia is a disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. You may also hear this disease referred to as “rabbit fever”, in reference to one of its main carriers in nature. Tularemia infection can be fatal if ignored, but the condition is usually very easy to treat with antibiotics. It’s also quite rare; about 200 cases a year are recorded in North America, for example, typically among people who are at the highest risk of getting the disease to begin with.
Tularemia gets its name from Tulare County in California, where an outbreak of the disease among wild rabbits in 1911 first brought it to human attention. It is characterized by fever, swollen lymph nodes and a rash, with skin ulcers being quite common, especially around the site of the bite that infected the patient, if infected by a bite. In some forms, tularemia can also infect the eyes, lungs, and digestive tract, causing general discomfort with associated ulcers.
The bacterium responsible for tularemia is highly infectious, and tularemia is one of the most infectious diseases on Earth. However, it is not easily transmitted between humans. Most people get it from insect bites, with insects such as ticks and deer feeding on the blood of infected animals such as rabbits and rodents. It is also possible to get tularemia from eating the meat of an infected animal, through contaminated water or soil, or in an airborne form. Gardeners are particularly susceptible to airborne tularemia because they often disturb the soil while working.
The diagnosis of tularemia is made by culturing a blood sample to see if the bacteria grows or by testing the blood to see if antibodies against tularemia are present. Doctors may also order X-rays, to make sure the infection hasn’t spread to the lung. Once the diagnosis has been made, the patient will be given antibiotics to treat it, and as always when using antibiotics, it is important to finish the course to ensure that the infection is completely cleared from the system.
Because tularemia is so contagious, several nations have allegedly developed it as part of their bioweapons programs, working on strains that would be resistant to antibiotics. When used as a biological weapon, tularemia is assumed to be aerosolized, thus spreading to as many people as possible in a short period of time. Many stocks of tularemia armata have been destroyed and this destruction has been documented, but the potential uses of F. tularensis are of concern to some governments.
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