Tularemia

Abstract

Tularemia is an uncommon disease caused by Francisella tularensis, a highly infectious gram-negative coccobacillus found in rabbits, hares, rodents, and arthropods throughout the northern hemisphere. Humans become infected through arthropod bites, handling infected animal tissues, ingestion of contaminated food or water, and inhalation of contaminated aerosols. Symptoms vary according to the route of inoculation. The most common clinical syndrome is ulceroglandular tularemia, which is characterized by fever, a skin ulcer at the site of inoculation, and regional lymphadenitis. Other syndromes include glandular, oculoglandular, oropharyngeal, pneumonic, and typhoidal tularemia. © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009.