Tularaemia, also known as rabbit fever, is an infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. Both humans and animals can be affected and humans can get infected through direct or indirect contact with infected animals or through an insect bite. Tularaemia is rare in Belgium. The disease can be cured with antibiotics.
Tularaemia is an infectious disease affecting animals and humans. Among animals, the disease is most common in rabbits, hares and rodents, but other animals, like livestock and pets, can also get infected. The bacterium has 4 subspecies, of which F. tularensis holartica, is the one found in Europe. The disease caused by this subspecies is milder than the disease caused by F. tularensis tularensis, which is the subspecies found in North America. The other two subspecies are F. tularensis novicida and F. tularensis mediaasiatica, which rarely cause illness.
Humans can get infected after a direct contact with the skin of an infected animal or with crops, soil or water contaminated with the bacterium. Tick bites are also a way of transmission. Infection through ingestion of contaminated food or water, through insect bites or through the inhalation of infected aerosol can also occur, but is less frequent. Infected individuals cannot infect the people around them.
Not all infected people will become sick. The disease will appear on average 3 to 5 days after the infection, but it can take up to three weeks. The first symptoms are usually flu-like, with fever, headache, muscle ache and throat ache. The other symptoms of the disease depend on the way the bacteria have entered the human body. The most common form of the disease is the ulceroglandular infection, which occurs after handling an infected animal. This form of tularaemia is characterised by a skin ulcer, and by swollen and painful glands. Eye infections and problems with the lungs, mouth, digestive tract, spleen and liver can occur in the other forms of the disease. Fatal cases are only recorded upon infection with F. tularensis tularensis which is not present in Europe.
It is difficult to diagnose tularaemia based on the clinical symptoms alone, as the disease can often be mistaken for other diseases with similar symptoms. Laboratory analyses are necessary to confirm an infection with F. tularensis. Detection of antibodies against the bacterium in the blood and analyses identifying the presence of the bacteria (culture or PCR) in biopsies are used to diagnose tularaemia in the laboratory.
If you are diagnosed by tularaemia by your doctor, he/she will prescribe you an antibiotic treatment.
The main groups at risk of infection are hunters, farmers, veterinarians, gardeners and people spending a lot of time outdoors in the woods.
Tularaemia can be prevented in the following ways:
