Tularemia (cont.)

F. tularensis can be freeze-dried and made into a powder which can be aerosolized. This makes it a potential source of bioterrorism similar to anthrax, botulism, or brucellosis because it could be delivered to large numbers of people. Once inhaled, it is estimated that more than 80% of people would become infected and 6% would die. Inhalation of only about 10-50 bacteria can cause disease. If the number of people exposed was large enough, infected people would overwhelm the health-care system and infected soldiers would be unable to fight. Tularemia is difficult to diagnosis, and few people are immune to the disease.

There is no vaccine for tularemia currently licensed in the United States. An older vaccine made from a weakened strain of F. tularensis had many other problems and was withdrawn. There is great interest in developing a new vaccine, not only to protect those at high risk for disease (lab workers or researchers who routinely handle the bacteria), but also for counterterrorism to reduce the threat of biological warfare. The National Institutes of Health is funding several research projects to develop an effective vaccine against F. tularensis.

If a person is exposed to tularemia in a high-risk situation, such as in a laboratory accident, a two-week course of doxycycline or ciprofloxacin pills is recommended. Exposures from tick bites or other low-risk settings do not require preventive antibiotics.

To reduce the risk of tularemia, hunters should not handle wild animals with their bare hands. If a pet brings a killed rodent inside, the rodent should not be touched by the person who disposes of it. Tick bites can be avoided by wearing long pants and sleeves. Hikers should check themselves for ticks every day. If a tick is found on the body, it should not be removed with bare hands. Insect bites may be minimized by using insect repellents.

Source: MedicineNet.com
http://www.medicinenet.com/tularemia/article.htm