56-year-old hunter diagnosed with tularemia in Ialoveni
foto: PUBLIKA.MD
A man from Ialoveni district hospitalized at the Hospital for Infectious Diseases Toma Ciorba was diagnosed with tularemia, according to the National Agency for Public Health.
The epidemiological investigation shows that the patient, a 56-year-old amateur hunter, was infected possibly due to his palm injury while skinning a rabbit.
The diagnosis of tularemia was established based on the clinical manifestations, the epidemiological history and the confirmatory results of the respective laboratory investigations.
Tularemia is a rare infectious disease that typically attacks the skin, eyes, lymph nodes and lungs. Tularemia — also called rabbit fever or deer fly fever — is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis.
The disease mainly affects mammals, especially rodents, rabbits and hares, although it can also infect birds, sheep, and domestic animals, such as dogs, cats and hamsters.
Most people exposed to tularemia who become sick generally do so within three to five days, although it can take as long as 14 days. Several types of tularemia exist, and which type you get depends on how and where the bacteria enter the body. Each type of tularemia has its own set of symptoms.