Tularemia

The symptoms of tularemia vary by the route of infection. Initial signs are often flu-like, including fever, chills, nausea, headache, and joint pain. When tularemia is spread through a scratch or bite, a sore may appear at the site where the bacteria entered the body, and lymph nodes near the site may be swollen and painful. Swallowing the bacteria in food or water may cause sore throat, stomach pain, diarrhea, and vomiting. Inhaling the bacteria can produce fever, coughing, chest pain, shortness of breath, and a pneumonia-like illness.

People can become infected with tularemia by direct contact (through mucous membranes of the eyes, nose, and mouth, or cuts in the skin) with infected animals, inhaling the bacteria from contaminated environments, eating or drinking contaminated food or water, or by the bite from an infected insect, such as a tick or deerfly. Tularemia is not spread from person to person, so people with tularemia do not need to be isolated.

The symptoms of Tularemia are similar to many common illnesses. It is essential that you share with your physician any illness following exposure to sick or dead animals or bites from ticks or deer flies in areas endemic for the disease so that he or she can ordered the appropriate diagnostic tests.

People should be treated as soon as possible at the first sign of illness with the right antibiotics prescribed by physicians, or it can be fatal. Tell the physician if you have had contact with wildlife or the environment in an area where tularemia has been diagnosed. Also tell the doctor if you are pregnant or have a weakened immune system.