|
 The unusually high number of cases of tularemia, sometimes called
rabbit fever, have been concentrated in northeastern Wyoming and in
neighboring parts of South Dakota and Nebraska and farther south in
the Colorado Front Range, where there have been reported die-offs of
animals like rabbits and voles that can carry the infectious
disease, Wyoming health officials said.
While tularemia, whose symptoms can include fever, sore throat and
muscle aches, is often present in the environment, it rarely sickens
more than a few people a year in Wyoming, a handful in Colorado and
just a few in South Dakota, health officials said.
That compares to 41 confirmed human cases so far this year in
Colorado, 14 in Wyoming - the highest number in the quarter century
that reliable records have been compiled - and at least 19 in South
Dakota, the most since 34 people acquired the ailment in 1984, state
epidemiologists said.
"This is quite unusual," South Dakota epidemiologist Lon Kightlinger
said.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is studying
cases in those states and Nebraska to identify common factors,
Wyoming State epidemiologist Tracy Murphy said.
The disease is treatable with antibiotics but can be deadly. It
killed an elderly Wyoming man earlier this year after causing a
severe infection of his central nervous system, Murphy said.
Tularemia can be transmitted to people through handling of sick
animals, including pets like cats and dogs that have come in contact
with infected rabbits or rodents, as well as bites from ticks, deer
flies or horse flies.
[to top of second column] |
Infections also are linked to activities such as lawn mowing, in
which people inhale bacteria from contaminated dust, or handling
animal carcasses, health officials said.
They are warning people in the four states to avoid contact with
ailing or dead rabbits or rodents, especially without wearing rubber
gloves and masks, and advised testing of pets showing any symptoms.
Animals that tested positive for tularemia near Devils Tower
National Monument in Wyoming led the National Park Service to post
signs urging visitors to stay on marked trails and avoid contact
with animals.
(Reporting by Laura Zuckerman in Salmon, Idaho; Editing by Dan
Whitcomb and Sandra Maler)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
 |
