Tularemia is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. The informal name “rabbit fever” comes from the disease’s association with rabbits, hares and other animals, but people can become infected in several ways.
According to the CDC, possible routes include bites from infected ticks or deer flies, handling infected animals, drinking contaminated water and, in some circumstances, inhaling contaminated dust or aerosols. Person-to-person transmission has not been reported.
When tularemia follows an infected tick or deer-fly bite, one common form can cause a skin ulcer near the point where the bacteria entered along with swollen lymph nodes. Fever, chills, fatigue, headache and muscle aches are among other possible symptoms. Anyone who becomes ill following a tick bite or potential animal exposure should contact a healthcare provider rather than trying to determine the cause themselves.
Tularemia is uncommon, but knowing that it exists helps reinforce an important point: Lyme disease is only one reason to take tick exposure seriously.
Tularemia is unusual among tick-borne illnesses because the ticks capable of transmitting it are not exactly the same group most associated with Lyme disease.
The CDC identifies the American dog tick, Rocky Mountain wood tick and lone star tick as species capable of transmitting the bacteria that cause tularemia to people in the United States.
For residents of Suffolk County, this is another reason to become familiar with the different ticks that may be encountered around wooded areas, tall vegetation, trails and residential properties.
Mosquito Shield of Suffolk County provides tick control services designed to reduce tick populations around areas where families spend time outdoors. Professional treatment does not eliminate the need for personal precautions, but it can become one part of a broader approach to reducing encounters with ticks around the home.
Ticks generally favor environments that protect them from drying out, including wooded edges, leaf litter, brush and areas where maintained lawns transition into less-maintained vegetation.
Homeowners can reduce favorable tick habitat by removing excess leaf litter, keeping grass maintained, cutting back brush near heavily used areas and creating separation between recreational areas and wooded property edges when practical.
People spending time outdoors should also check themselves, children and pets for ticks afterward. Removing attached ticks promptly remains important because different tick species can transmit several different pathogens.
Mosquito Shield of Suffolk County focuses treatments on areas around residential properties where ticks are likely to live and encounter people or pets.
Rabbit fever remains far less familiar than Lyme disease, but tularemia provides another reminder that Long Island’s tick population is associated with more than one potential health concern.
