Tularemia Definition
An infection common among wild rodents, is also known as "rabbit fever," "deer fly fever," "Ohara fever," and "Francis disease." The bacterium causing the disease has several subspecies with varying degrees of virulence. Ticks and deer flies are the primary vectors of the disease but can also be spread through other arthropods. Its name was derived from Tulare County, California.
Tularemia Diagnosis
Diagnosing the disease would include several tests such as serology, polymerase chain reaction (PMR) test form an ulcer, blood culture for tularemia and chest x-ray.
Tularemia Treatment
Treatment of tularemia is aimed at curing the infection using antibiotic. The most commonly used antibiotics are Streptomycin and tetracycline. The use of gentramycin once daily has also been tried with excellent results but only a few cases have been studied.
Tularemia Symptoms and Signs
People with the disease experience various symptoms namely chills, enlarged lymph nodes, fever, headache, joint stiffness, muscle pains, possible conjunctivitis, red spot on the skin, shortness of breath, sweating, and weight loss. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Other clinical syndromes include ulceroglandular, glandular, oropharyngeal, pneumonic, oculoglandular, and typhoidal.
Tularemia Causes
Tularemia can be contracted through direct contact with an infected animal or it carcass through a break in the skin, the bite of an infected tick, horsefly, or mosquito, and eating infected meat.
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