Know what tularemia is.

[CindyR]

This will be short because there are so many more important issues on this discussion board right now.

This is just a heads-up to know what tularemia is (a bacterial infection much like the plague and spread by fleas and ticks and infected meat). My sweet dog Ginger probably has tularemia. We will know for sure when the blood tests come back, but in the meantime they treat as if the animal has the disease. Rounds of antibiotics. But its BEST if you catch it soon. Knowing how the people on this network are tuned in to their animals, I'm sure you all know as soon as your dog (or other animal companion) is "off." Signs are: lethargy, disinterest in food, fever, vomiting and diarrhea. Ginger most definitely caught this bug because of her hunting obsession. Its nickname is rabbit fever. People can get it too, and it is contagious from dog to dog (under some circumstances).

Ben (our host) suspects that not many people are aware of the prevalence of tularemia, so asked that I give you all a heads-up. It is a disease that has to be reported to the Health Department for tracking.

Here are a few sites for more reference:
http://www.avma.org
about tularemia in people from the CDC
a pdf from our NM Dept of Health

Be safe everyone.

[CindyR]

Blood work has FINALLY returned (a week later!) and Ginger was positive for Tularemia. After a week of antibiotics, she is feeling back to her normal self.

[P. Price]

Wow, never heard of it before now. Thanks for sharing! Good to know. :-)

[Julie L]

I had a boyfriend in Utah who had tularemia a few years ago. He thinks he got it from a deerfly bite when windsurfing at a remote lake in Utah. There was some speculation it could have come from military testing of bioweapons at a military base out there, because it was in testing as a bioweapon, but that was completely unsubstantiated. He was in the hospital for at least a week then had to walk around with some kind of dialysis machine for awhile. He's fully recovered now. He was lucky. It's a scary thing. Best to Ginger!

[Lisa]

Thanks Cindy. Yes, I wish they would let us know when it's found here, we've had it going around the rabbit population for over a year now. We think it's what wiped out the cottontail population here on campus last year. Unfortunately, they did nothing to report them and no one cared. :(

[Ben Swan]

Thanks Cindy, for posting this useful information. I'm always worried about Zach rooting around in the arroyos.