Tularemia Cases in Tasmania First in Southern Hemisphere

The two cases of tularemia infection in Tasmania confirmed by local health officials last week were the first appearance of the disease in the southern hemisphere.

Tasmania's Deputy Public Health Director Dr. Chrissie Picken said the people were infected with the disease also known as rabbit fever early this year after being bitten and scratched by possums in the island's west coast. Both acquired the mild strain of the disease and have recovered after treatment, she said, according to All Voices.

However, Picken warned Tasmanians against handling wild animals and seek immediate medical treatment if they are bitten or scratched.

Tularemia spreads among animals, including birds, through bites from ticks and deer flies. There is no known or recorded person-to-person infection.

Humans get infected by direct contact with contaminated animals or material, by ingestion of poorly cooked flesh of infected animals or contaminated water, or by inhalation of the Francisella tularensis bacteria. Symptoms include fever, headaches, joint stiffness and shortness of breath. But infection must be treated with antibiotics to prevent complications and death.

Veterinarian Dr. James Harris, who first identified the disease in North America, said tularemia leads to septicemia and pneumonia, according to All Voices.

Previous tularemia infections only happened in North America and parts of Europe and Asia. The last know outbreak of the disease was in June in Armenia, where two people were infected.

In 2009, a Swedish tourist was infected in Vancouver, Canada.

Outbreaks happened in the Spanish autonomous region of Castile and León in 2007, in Georgia in 2006 and in Kosovo in 1999 to 2000.

In 2005, small amounts of F. tularensis, the bacteria that causes tularemia, were detected in the Mall area of Washington, D.C., but no one was infected.

In 2004, three researchers at Boston University Medical Center were accidentally infected with F. tularensis after apparently failing to follow safety procedures, according to Wikipedia.

The only known death from the disease happened in Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts in 2000.