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Show Outbreak of Tularemia Reported in This State The mild outbreak of tularemia in Salt Lake county makes it timely to inform the sportsmen of the state in regard to the nature of the disease and about that other disease, spotted spot-ted fever, which is kept alive through rabbits and other animals in some parts of the country. Utah has comparatively little spotted fever fev-er but at times Utah's jack rabbits and deer flies have spread more than a little tularemia. Getting to tularemia first: The first thing to remember is that a person handling, especially dressing, an infected rabbit is apt to get the disease, unless he uses utmost ut-most precaution. The spleen and the liver seem to be the centers of infection and should not be touched if it can be avoided. Persons with sores or cuts on the hands should never dress wild jack rabbits for the disease is apt to be present and unnoticed. un-noticed. The infection or the germ seems to have the ability to pierce the healthy skin so persons cleaning rabbits should use rubber gloves when possible. The second thing to remember is to always kill a laiy rabbit and burn or bury the carcas. Lazy rabbits almost al-most always are sick rabbits. Thorough cooking, medical men say, destroys the tularemia germs and makes the rabbit meat safe to eat. Now to Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever: The first thing to remember about this is that it is dangerous but that the areas where the fatality rate is three out of four is relatively small. Idaho, Montana and Wyoming have such areas. Spotted fever has been found in almost all of Montana, Wy oming, Idaho, in many parts of Utah and in half of Colorado, Nevada, Washington and Oregon. It is also reported in California. The next tthing to remember is that with a little extra care when In the mountains no one need be bitten by wood ticks. It takes the tick several sev-eral hours as a rule to decide just where he wants to burrow into a man. When in tick territory inspect the clothes and body three times a day. When a tick is found attached to the body the best way, according to the Wyoming health department, is to put a little iodine or turpentine at the point of entrance and then carefully help the tick "back out." The head of the tick is the old part which enters the skin and this is usually us-ually broken off unless care is used. It is also recommended that a sharp instrument be pushed into the skin, just under the jaws of the tick and the tick pried out. Guard against getting infection from some other source while getting the tick out. The third thing to remember is that all wood ticks are not poisonous poison-ous and that practically the only way man can contract the disease is through the bite of an infected tick although laboratory workers have got it without a tick bite. The spotted fever danger period is from warm spring days to July 15. Seldom are cases discovered after that date. There is a serum which is effective in preventing tick infection but it is hard to get and costs about $25.00 to, make enough for one inoculation. There is no specific cure. About 500 persons a year get spotted fever. Those over 50 usually usual-ly die. Those in the few really dangerous areas usually die. Children Child-ren usually recover, but are often paralyzed. Remember With proper precaution precau-tion no one need get either tularemia tulare-mia or Rocky Mountain Spotted fever. |