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Show Tularemia Cases Found in Duchesne County - Carried By Many Animals; I 7a!ch For Habbit Fever Ss I several cases of Tularemia ! h ve been reported in Duchesne county during late June and early Julv- Fifteen Utahns have been, infected in-fected with Tularemia so far this vear. reports the Utah ' state Board of Health. Two fresh attacks on humans occurred occur-red in Duchesne County the i week ending June 19. New cases I have since been reported in Du- i W I -V , .J!.. . i . y V . ..4 t !' , A JOHN DRUARY, starring as "Alfred." in U. Festival's "La Traviala." chesne and neighboring Wasatch County. Tularemia, or rabbit fever is frequently transmitted by deer flies. Dr. M. A. Holmes, veterinarian veterinar-ian for the Utah Health Department, Depart-ment, says tularemia is not confined con-fined to rabbits. It can be carried car-ried to man through groundhogs, ground-hogs, mice, rats porcupines, muskrats, beaver, squirrels, sheep, bites from ticks, lice, flies and other blood-sucking insects. Tests disclose that tularemia bacteria may have been lurking in the cool waters of the mountain moun-tain stream from which you drank yesterday. It also mav have been in insufficiently cooked cook-ed rabbit you had for dinner last night. Sometimes the disease is contracted con-tracted by rubbing the eyes with hands which have touched dead animals. First Described The infection first was described de-scribed in 1911 as a "plaguelike "plague-like disease of rodents Li Tulare County, Calif. hence the name tularemia. Human cases have been reported re-ported from 48 states and the District of Columbia. From 1924 to 1945, prior to the discovery of streptomycin, the number of cases reported by state health officers was 19,208 with 1,432 known deaths, giving a mortality mortal-ity rate of 7.4. A tularemia epidemic broke out in a muskrat colony in the vacinity of Utah Lake in 1950 and a number of people became infected. Tularemia bacteria usually gain entrance to the human body through an abrasion in the skin. The incuation period averages av-erages about three and a half days. The onset is sudden with headache, chills, body pains, fever, fev-er, and sometimes vomiting. Lesions break out on the skin in the mucous mebrane which lines the inner surface of the eyelids. Prompt Recovery Streptomycin, f o r t u n a tely, brings about prompt recovery. Dr. Holmes advises: Protect yourself against tularemia tula-remia when handling animal carcasses by wearing rubber gloves, whether you are a hunter, hunt-er, marketman, cook, housewife or trapper. Mental alertness will help in avoiding insect bites and forestall fore-stall deliberate handling of bloodsucking ticks, flies, or fleas. Bites, cuts, punctures and scratches should be disinfected. Thorough cooking of wild game is essential. Avoid physical contact with sick animals. If an animal is sluggish and is easily caught by dogs, it is probably sick. Such animals should be destroyed by burial or burning. Don't drink from mountain streams if you are uncertain of the'water-s source and degree of purity. |
