Tularemia

Tularemia can’t spread from person to person. People can get tularemia by:

• Being bitten by a dog tick, lone star tick, wood tick, or deer fly with tularemia bacteria.
• Touching animal tissue with tularemia bacteria, most commonly when hunting or skinning infected rabbits, hares, muskrats, beavers, prairie dogs, and other rodents. Be careful when handling any sick or dead animal.
• Breathing in dust or air particles with the bacteria. This can happen during farming or landscaping activities when tractors or mowers run over animals or carcasses with the bacteria.
• Having contact with an ill animal, including being bitten or scratched, or providing care.
• Eating game meat that isn’t fully cooked. Meat can have the bacteria even after being frozen for several years.
• Drinking water with the bacteria in it.

Symptoms of tularemia start two to 10 days after the bacteria enter the body. The signs and symptoms differ depending on where the bacteria enter the body and other reasons.

Almost everyone who is sick with tularemia will have:

• Fever.
• Swollen lymph nodes in the area of the body near where the bacteria entered.

Other signs and symptoms often depend on how the tularemia bacteria enter the body. Below are symptoms that can result from these different ways.

Insect bites, contact with infected tissue or animals, and animal bites or scratches:

• Skin sores
• Swollen lymph nodes, usually in an arm pit or groin closest to the skin sore

Touching the eye with unwashed hands that have the bacteria on them:

• Irritation and swelling of the eye
• Swollen lymph nodes in front of the ear

Eating meat or drinking water with the bacteria:

• Sore throat
• Mouth sores
• Swollen tonsils
• Swollen lymph nodes in the neck

Breathing in the bacteria (or other ways that aren’t treated):

• Cough
• Chest pain
• Difficulty breathing

If you have these symptoms, contact a doctor. Tell them if you’ve had any recent bites by a tick or deer fly, or if you’ve had any contact with sick or dead animals. Symptoms of tularemia can match symptoms from other illnesses.

Tularemia can be treated with antibiotics.

Treatment is usually 10–21 days depending on the antibiotic used and how long you’ve been sick.

It can take many weeks, but most people heal completely.

When spending time outdoors:

• Wear protective clothing, including long pants, long sleeves, and long socks.
• Use insect repellents registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and labeled for use against ticks and deer flies.
• Check your body for ticks after spending time outside. Remove attached ticks as soon as possible with narrow-bladed tweezers.
• Learn about Tick Bite Prevention.
• Don’t drink untreated water.

When hunting, trapping, or skinning animals:

• Always wear gloves if you’re skinning or handling animals, especially rabbits.
• Don’t touch your eyes or mouth with dirty hands or gloves.
• Always wash your hands and equipment, such as knives and cutting boards, after you’re done handling the animal.
• Cook meat from wild game thoroughly before eating it.

When farming or landscaping:

• Check the area for carcasses before mowing the lawn or using a tractor.
• Be careful not to mow over sick or dead animals.

When interacting with animals that could be infected:

• Wear protective equipment, such as gloves.
• Avoid bites and scratches.

• Learn about transmission, symptoms, and prevention—Tularemia Fact Sheet, P-42100 (Multiple Languages)
• Learn more from the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) about tularemia