Residents
should take precautions when gardening or landscaping.
Boulder,
CO – A Lafayette resident tested positive for tularemia after mowing their lawn
and gardening and subsequently developed symptoms of high fever, headache, and
general malaise. The resident did not survive, due to other medical
complications.
Boulder
County Public Health officials will be posting warning signs in the area to
alert residents of the risks of tularemia.
This
is the first Boulder County resident to test positive for the tularemia this
year. Three people have tested positive for the disease in Colorado so far this
year; each one had recently been gardening and/or landscaping.
“There
has been a significant increase in tularemia activity in the past few years,”
said Carol Helwig, Boulder County Public Health Communicable Disease Control
Program Coordinator. “In the five year period prior to 2014, on average, there
were fewer than 3 cases each year in Colorado. There had not been a case of
tularemia reported in Boulder County since 2007, when just one case was
reported.”
In
2014, 16 people tested positive for the disease in Colorado; five were Boulder
County residents.
“We’re
concerned that this will be another active year because tularemia persists in
the environment and can survive the winter months,” said Lane Drager, Boulder
County Public Health Consumer Protection Program Coordinator. “The wet weather
also creates more vegetation that provides more food for animal populations.
With more animals in our environment, it’s more likely that some of them will
carry and spread the disease.”
People
become infected with tularemia through skin contact with infected animal tissue
or through the bite of infected insects, most commonly ticks and deer flies.
The bacteria can also be inhaled when infected animal tissue is broken up into
small particles and spread in the air, such as when an infected carcass is
mowed over.
“Illness
from tularemia can be very painful and often requires care in the hospital. For
those with other health problems, it can be deadly,” said Helwig. “The best
protection is to avoid coming in contact with wildlife.”
Symptoms
of tularemia include an abrupt onset of fever, chills, headache, muscle aches,
joint pain, dry cough, difficulty breathing, bloody sputum, and respiratory
failure. Symptoms also include skin ulcers, swollen and painful lymph glands,
inflamed eyes, sore throat, mouth sores, diarrhea, or pneumonia. Tularemia is
treatable when detected early.
Tularemia
is often overlooked as a diagnosis because it is rare, and the symptoms are
similar to other diseases. Public health officials recommend that anyone who
becomes ill after possible exposure to a sick or dead animal should ask their
health care providers about the possibility of tularemia.
Public
health officials recommend the following precautions:
-
Avoid
all contact with wild animals or rodents, including voles, squirrels and rabbits; do not feed
or handle them. If an animal carcass must be moved, place it in a garbage bag
using a long-handled shovel, and place the bag in an outdoor garbage can.
-
Do
not wear sandals or walk barefoot in an area where animals have been seen sick
or dead. The
tularemia bacteria can persist in the environment, such as soil and water, for
several months after it is
detected.
-
Stay
out of areas inhabited by wild animals or rodents. If you must enter areas frequented
by wild rodents, always wear insect repellent that is effective against ticks,
biting flies, and mosquitoes and contains DEET or oil of lemon eucalyptus.
-
Do
not mow over animals carcasses,
and use a dust mask when mowing or doing landscape work.
-
Prevent
pets from hunting or eating wild rodents or rabbits. Infected pets, such as cats, may in
turn transmit the disease to people. Contact a veterinarian if a pet becomes
ill with a high fever and/or swollen lymph nodes.
Seven
animals have tested positive for the disease in Colorado this year; 38 animals
tested positive in 2014. In Boulder County in 2014, 4 animals, including two
mice, one rabbit, and one vole tested positive for tularemia; none have tested
positive so far this year.
In
the United States, human cases of tularemia have been reported from every state
except Hawaii, with the majority occurring in south-central and western states.
For
more information about tularemia, visit www.cdc.gov/tularemia or call the Boulder County Health
Information Line at 303.441.1460.
To report
an animal die-off (two or more animals found in the same area at the same time)
in Boulder County, call 303.441.1564.
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