Those of us who spend any time in the outdoors have probably heard of this disease. I had, but I had no idea it was this nasty. When I was a kid somebody, probably my father, told me to never eat a wild rabbit unless there was an "R" in the month. I grew up thinking maybe he was confusing rabbits with oysters.

Turns out he was right. May through August happens to be when the ticks are out, at least in my area. Just a reminder to thoroughly wash after cleaning any small mammal, particularly rabbits, and to cook it thoroughly.

Here is the CDC website. Like I said, pretty nasty stuff:

http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/tularemia/faq.asp

Regards, Vince

Norad45:

Is that the same as "hives"?

Got hives once, very painful, swollen bumpy hands.

Bountyhunter

Tularemia is Category A Agent as listed by the CDC.

Some other sites for Tularemia are:
http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/tularemia/index.asp
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/000856.htm
http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic591.htm
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/tularemia

Other Category A agents identified by CDC are:
Anthrax
Botulism
Plague
Viral Hemorrhagic Fever (ex. ebola)
Smallpox
Tularemia

CDC guidelines for Category A Agents defined as:
The U.S. public health system and primary healthcare providers must be prepared to address various biological agents, including pathogens that are rarely seen in the United States. High-priority agents include organisms that pose a risk to national security because they

can be easily disseminated or transmitted from person to person;
result in high mortality rates and have the potential for major public health impact;
might cause public panic and social disruption; and
require special action for public health preparedness.

No, Bounty, rabbit fever is NOT the same as hives... I've never heard of anybody ever dying from untreated hives, going crazy from the itch, maybe, but not dying... untreated tularemia leads to the Reaper.

Wildcard163:

See!, I don't have all the answers.

Bountyhunter <img src="/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

What is sobering how fast it can develop. If you are in the backcountry when it strikes then you could end up at deaths door before you get medical care, unless you are evacuated by a helicopter. I guess I'm going to re-think carrying some antibiotics.

Regards, Vince

I've never had hives. Aren't they just a mild allergic reaction?

Vince

An allergy yes - mild? In my case no. Hives or Urticaria, is named after stinging nettles, as they produce the same sort of weals.
There are different types. I suffer from pressure Urticaria, which means if I scratch myself or my clothing is too tight I'll come up in an itchy weal. Of course it a vicious circle the more I scratch the more weals the more I itch....eventually you draw blood.
After getting little help from the medical profession, I eventually worked out it was an allergy to diary product, in particular high fat cheeses. Over the years its calmed down, but I still can't eat diary products in any great amounts.
I found the topical steriod cream the doctors gave me (eumnovate) worked, but came with such dire health warning I tried to avoid them. Surprisingly I found zinc and castor oil cream mean't for babbies nappy rash worked just as well and is safe to use over a long period of time.
I seem to have got carried away here and its nothing to do with rabbits!...hope its useful never-the-less.

ok but is the "months ending in R" myth true?

ive never eaten wild rabbit but id have to think that people in the past who lived off the land ate them year round almost, so there must be a way to ensure the safety of the food.

Humility is a fine character trait <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />.

The R month is NOT true!

From the IL Dept. of Public Health (edited so as not to repeat above info):

Although many wild and domestic animals can be infected, the rabbit is most often involved in disease outbreaks. Tularemia is relatively rare in Illinois; five or fewer cases are reported each year.

The disease occurs throughout the United States in all months of the year. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> The incidence, however, is higher for adults in early winter during rabbit hunting season and for children during the summer when ticks and deer flies are abundant.

Many routes of human exposure to the tularemia bacteria are known to exist. The common routes include inoculation of the skin or mucous membranes with blood or tissue while handling infected animals, the bite of an infected tick, contact with fluids from infected deer flies or ticks, or handling or eating insufficiently cooked rabbit meat. Less common means of spread are drinking contaminated water, inhaling dust from contaminated soil or handling contaminated pelts or paws of animals. Tularemia is not spread from person to person.

Symptoms can appear between one and 14 days after exposure, but usually do so after three to five days.

The drug of choice for treating tularemia is streptomycin or gentamicin, although other antibiotics also are effective. <img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Long-term immunity usually follows recovery from tularemia. However, reinfection has been reported.

Several precautions can protect individuals from tularemia.
Avoid drinking, bathing, swimming or working in untreated water where infection may be common among wild animals.
Use impervious gloves when skinning or handling animals, especially rabbits. Cook the meat of wild rabbits and rodents thoroughly. <img src="/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" />

Avoid being bitten by deer flies and ticks. The following suggestions may help: Check your clothing often for ticks climbing toward open skin. Wear white or light-colored long-sleeved shirts and long pants so the tiny ticks are easier to see. Tuck long pants into your socks and boots. Wear a head covering or hat for added protection.
For those who may not tolerate wearing all of these clothes in hot, muggy weather, apply insect repellent containing DEET (30 percent or less) to exposed skin (except the face). Be sure to wash treated skin after coming indoors. If you do cover up, use repellents containing permethrin to treat clothes (especially pants, socks and shoes) while in locations where ticks may be common. Follow label directions; do not misuse or overuse repellents. Always supervise children in the use of repellents.
Walk in the center of trails so weeds do not brush against you.

Check yourself, children and other family members every two to three hours for ticks. Most ticks seldom attach quickly and rarely transmit tickborne disease until they have been attached for four or more hours.

If you let your pets outdoors, check them often for ticks. Infected ticks also can transmit some tickborne diseases to them. (Check with your veterinarian about preventive measures against tickborne diseases.) You are at risk from ticks that "hitch a ride" on your pets but fall off in your home before they feed.

Make sure the property around your home is unattractive to ticks. Keep your grass mowed and keep weeds cut.

Remove any tick promptly. Do not try to burn the tick with a match or cover it with petroleum jelly or nail polish. Do not use bare hands. The best way to remove a tick is to grasp it with fine-point tweezers as close to the skin as possible and gently, but firmly, pull it straight out. Do not twist or jerk the tick. If tweezers are not available, grasp the tick with a piece of cloth or whatever can be used as a barrier between your fingers and the tick. You may want to put the tick in a jar of rubbing alcohol labeled with the date and location of the bite in case you seek medical attention and your physician wishes to have the tick identified.

The mouthparts of a tick are shaped like tiny barbs and may remain embedded and lead to infection at the bite site if not removed properly. Be sure to wash the bite area and your hands thoroughly with soap and water, and apply an antiseptic to the bite site.

Sue

Thanks for that post, Susan, I've always been under the impression that the rule of safety was to wait 'till after the first snowfall (and I grew up in Illinois), while I don't remember ever hearing of anybody having problems, we also followed the rule that you cook rabbit just like pork, WELL DONE. I guess that probably plays a bigger part than the "first snowfall" theory. Thanks again.

Troy

Well, that settles it...or does it?

"The incidence, however, is higher for adults in early winter during rabbit hunting season and for children during the summer when ticks and deer flies are abundant."

You would expect the incidence to be higher when people are eating more rabbit; i.e: during rabbit season. The question for survival purposes is: when can you reasonably expect a higher rate of infection? I think that is at the height of tick season--spring and summer (the non-"R" months.) You are much more likely to be bitten by an infected tick, or eat an infected animal, during this time than during the winter. In January, the ticks are all dead--at least where I am at.

Cook your meat thoroughly, wash your hands, and use Deet repellant.

And carry antibiotics. Year-round.

Regards, Vince

"id have to think that people in the past who lived off the land ate them year round almost, so there must be a way to ensure the safety of the food."

There is: cooking the meat thoroughly kills all of the bacteria. But on a larger scale, I guess the humans who didn't cook their rabbits thoroughly got tularemia and died out. Or if they lived, they had a natural immunity to the bacteria.

They either did not pass on their genes or they passed on some resistant genes.

Thanks Grampa!!

Regards, VIince

Very interesting. Where I live ticks are present often as much as 10 months out of the year so I am always interested in as much knowledge as possible with regards to tick-born illnesses. Atleast this is one of the ones that is actually treatable. There are far worse nasties that can be gotten by a tick. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" />

The “R” myth stems from the days prior to widespread refrigeration. The days without an “R” such as the late spring and summer months (May – August) are when foods such as oysters would spoil quickly without refrigeration.

Historically, the same would be true for when individuals would travel for recreation in the woods. The wetter, warmer spring and summer months tends to promote environmental conditions favorable to an increase in mosquito and tick populations and the corresponding viral, bacterial and parasitic agents they carry.

Pete

When I went home at Christmas (Springfield MO) I went out in the woods and came back with at least two live ticks crawling on me. (It had been freezing for several days a few days prior to that time.

Wow I wonder why its different here. In the warm months they are litterally everywhere in the wild but I rarely if ever have seen them after the first freeze.