MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti) - A second case of Tularemia, also known as “rabbit fever,” has been registered in the US state of Colorado, the Associated Press reports citing state health officials.
A Larimer county resident was infected in July while mowing a lawn, according to Larimer and Weld county health officials. The patient was taken to the hospital in early August after two antibiotic treatment regimens proved unsuccessful, but has since returned home.
The Larimer County Department of Health and Environment says the first case of the disease was reported on July 16 in the city of Broomfield, which was also struck by a rabbit die-off.
Tularemia is an infectious disease spread between humans and animals, with symptoms ranging from swollen lymph nodes, to fever and sore throat. Rodents such as rabbits, hares, beavers and muskrats, are the principal carriers of the disease.
The infection is typically transmitted to hunters butchering infected animals. Human susceptibility to tularemia is extremely high, and without early treatment, the disease can be life-threatening.
The United States experienced Tularemia outbreaks in Massachusetts in 1978 and 2000. Generally, there are 100-150 reported cases of the disease each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
