Can’t identify rabid animals • It is impossible to tell if an animal is rabid by simply looking at it • The safest approach is not to touch it.
Living with Wildlife
Transmittable Animal Diseases
How to protect yourself from rabies • Do not feed, touch, or adopt sick or wild animals and be cautious of stray dogs and cats. • Teach children to leave wildlife alone and to tell an adult if an animal bites or scratches them. • Close garbage cans or store them in a garage or shed. • Call your health care provider if an animal bites or scratches you.
How to protect pets from rabies • Keep rabies vaccinations up-to-date for all cats, ferrets, and dogs. • Maintain control of your pets by keeping them indoors and under direct supervision when outdoors.
Tularemia Tularemia, also known as rabbit fever or deer fly fever, is a potentially serious illness that can occasionally pass from animals to humans. It is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. The disease mainly affects mammals, especially rodents, rabbits and hares, but can infect birds and insects. Tularemia is spread between animals by insect bites, direct transmission, and inhalation or ingestion of the bacteria. The bacteria can persist for long periods of time in the environment in water, soil and in carcasses. There are multiple forms of disease that can occur in humans. The form that occurs in a person depends on the way in which the person was infected. The most common form of the disease in humans is ulceroglandular tularemia. It is characterized by a skin ulcer that forms at the site of infection – usually through an insect bite, a cut, or some other break in the skin. Other forms of the disease include: glandular, affecting the lymph nodes; pneumonic, affecting the lungs and causing pneumonia; oculoglandular, affecting one or both eyes; and typhoidal, which is systemic infection of the blood. Symptoms of tularemia may be non-specific, which can make it hard to diagnose. After being infected, people can develop pneumonia, dehydration, inflammation of the spleen or liver, and without treatment, can progress to septic infection of the blood and even death.
Generalized symptoms of tularemia include but are not limited to: • • • •
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fever rash cough abdominal pain
• • • • •
vomiting headaches muscle aches fatigue malaise
• painful, swollen lymph nodes • anorexia
Symptoms usually appear 2 to 10 days after exposure to the bacteria, but can take as long as 21 days.
How tularemia spreads It only takes a few bacteria to cause tularemia. The symptoms and severity of the disease depend on the route of entry through which the bacteria enter the human body. Transmission of tularemia from person to person has never been reported. People can get tularemia in the following ways: • tick or deer fly bites, which usually cause ulceroglandular or glandular tularemia • handling infected animals, particularly when hunting or skinning infected rabbits, muskrats, prairie dogs, or other rodents; handling a domestic pet that has been infected with tularemia, particularly cats, dogs, or pet rodents • eating or drinking contaminated food or water that has not been cooked or processed thoroughly • inhaling dust or aerosols that are contaminated with F. tularensis
How is tularemia treated? Tularemia can be difficult to diagnose because it is rare, and many of the symptoms it causes are also present in more common illnesses. If you have been recently hunting, gardening, had contact with sick or dead animals, or had recent tick or deer fly bites, this information should be shared with your health care provider. Blood tests can be done to confirm the diagnosis of tularemia. Antibiotics are used to treat the infection over the course of 10 to 21 days depending on the state of illness and the medication used. Symptoms may last for several weeks even after treatment has been completed, and most people completely recover.
How to prevent becoming infected with tularemia Tularemia occurs naturally in many parts of the United States, including Colorado. When hiking, camping, or working outdoors, use insect repellent containing 20% to 30% DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toulamide), picaridin, or IR3535. Follow the label directions to ensure proper use. Wear long pants, long sleeve shirts, and long socks to keep tick and deer flies off your skin. Remove attached ticks promptly. Don’t drink untreated surface water (i.e. from lakes, rivers, and streams). When mowing or landscaping, don’t mow over sick or dead animals. Consider using dust masks to reduce your risk of inhaling the bacteria. If you hunt, trap or skin animals, use gloves when handling animals, especially rabbits, muskrats, prairie dogs, and other rodents. Cook game meat thoroughly before eating. Note any change in the behavior of your pets (especially rodents, rabbits, and hares) or livestock, and consult a veterinarian if they develop unusual symptoms.
