Rare 'Rabbit Fever': The epidemic spreading under the nose of the CDC

Health authorities on Long Island in the USA issued a warning to the public on Tuesday regarding a rare and potentially fatal disease transmitted by ticks, after three probable cases of tularemia — a severe illness known as 'rabbit fever' — were discovered and reported by the Suffolk County Department of Health.

One of the main cases published involved a nine-year-old patient who was bitten by a tick while playing outside his home. After the tick was removed, the child developed a high fever, severe headaches and neck pain, swollen lymph nodes, muscle aches, and extreme fatigue. After multiple doctor visits and nearly a month of illness, an infectious disease specialist diagnosed him with tularemia. Although wild rabbits live in the family's yard, his mother noted that he never touched them, and doctors estimate that infected ticks had fed on the rabbits beforehand and then bit the child.

Tularemia is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis, which usually attacks rabbits, hares, and rodents, but can be transmitted from animals to humans. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, the bacterium is classified as a high-risk agent for misuse that could cause severe damage to public health. Researchers note that although the disease remains rare, there has been an increase of about 56% in reported cases in the USA in recent years, partly due to improvements in diagnostic and testing methods such as advanced laboratory tests.

Humans can be infected through bites from deer flies or ticks, contact with infected animals, or exposure to water and contaminants in the air. Symptoms include chills, headaches, exhaustion, vomiting, abdominal pain, and local sores or eye and lung inflammation. Although the mortality rate from the disease is usually less than 2%, in severe cases it can reach up to 24%. The disease is treated with antibiotics, but currently, there is no vaccine available against it.

Tularemia is a zoonotic disease known for decades, but it is receiving renewed attention following the rise in reported infection cases in the United States. Medical experts emphasize that although the general population is not at direct risk unless they come into physical contact with infected animals or insects, certain risk groups — including children aged 5 to 9 and hunters — should exercise extra caution and seek medical treatment upon the appearance of suspicious symptoms.