Report: DE Tot Dies from Tick Bite - Authorities Think Rabbit Fever Possible

WPVI.com - Philadelphia radio ^ | July 1, 2003 | Staff

[LurkedLongEnough]

According to a broadcast report, a 17-month-old Delaware girl has died – apparently from a tick bite.

Health officials have told WBOC TV in Salisbury, MD, that the toddler caught Rabbit Fever. She was bitten by a tick and had a fever of 105 degrees before she died. There's no word about where the child was from.

Authorities say people can catch the illness from an infected tick or by handling an infected carcass. It is not passed from person to person.

There are about 200 Rabbit Fever cases nationwide each year.

[LurkedLongEnough]

Umm, isn't "tularemia" another name for Rabbit Fever?

[jacquej]

Yup, it is...

[ThinkingMan]

This is kind of scary, we went camping this weekend and found a tick on my 4 year old boy when we got home. Luckily I haven't seen or heard any warnings about disease bearing ticks out here in South Dakota.

[Mamzelle]

Good hospitals on the Eastern Shore...but a very bad year for ticks in my neck of the woods, Appalachia. Have shaved my dog and pull a dozen off him a day. Must be all the rain. Even the chickens can't keep them down.

[msdrby]

ping

[Clintons Are White Trash]

There was an outbreak of tularemia on Martha's Vineyard some years back. Sounds like a nasty disease.

Having lost the tick lottery and contracted Lyme Disease I'm pretty paranoid about the little buggers. I'm fortunate the only symptom I have had was the spinal menningitis it gave me about a month after the bite.

[CDHart]

Central Missouri here -- the ticks are the worst I've ever seen them. They seem to cause more of an inflammation reaction than they used to, as well. I had one on my thigh that caused a red swelling for 6 inches around it.

Carolyn

[Mamzelle]

Blue Ridge to Central Mo--bump. Very bad tick year. And the sprays don't seem to help the dog much, just regular inspection. Have been told that keeping hens (and letting them loose during the day) helps keep ticks down, but not this year. Though maybe it would be worse without them.

[knuthom]

Central Missouri here -- the ticks are the worst I've ever seen them

I am in southwestern Missouri. The ticks are bad here every year. I don't remember this from my childhood in Wisconsin. Are ticks worse than they used to be or are there fewer up north?

[Mamzelle]

re: I'm fortunate the only symptom I have had was the spinal menningitis it gave me about a month after the bite. )))

Eek.

But interesting. There has been an anecdotal uptick in the presentation/incidence of SM in my area. Did the clinician actually say that he believed your Lyme and the Spinal Men were connected, or was that a conclusion you drew yourself?

[rangerwife]

I think it is going to be a bad year for ticks. A few weeks ago, I found 2 ticks on my daughter's head when I was blow drying it. I didn't even see them when I was washing her hair! Her hair is reddish in color, so maybe that's why I didn't see them when washing it as the ticks blended in well. We keep our son's hair super short like his daddy's, so I would probably notice a tick on his blonde head. I think the mosquitoes are bad too. We were playing outside last week and I got ate up big time while I was out there in the middle of the day. It is gonna be a nasty summer for bugs!

[MizSterious]

Central Oklahoma here--and ticks are very bad this year also. So far, though, I haven't had any diseased bites. Over the past 10 or so years, I've had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever (now THAT'S a headache to remember...) and Lyme. Had Lyme twice. You can tell when it's Lyme because of the bright red halo around the bite--start the meds before the halo goes away, and there will probably be no problems later.

Frankly, even though I love the out of doors, I avoid getting off the pavement and even then check real carefully when I come in--Lyme is easy enough to deal with, but the rmsf was just horrid, as I've heard tularemia is, as well.

[MizSterious]

"I had one on my thigh that caused a red swelling for 6 inches around it."

I would get the test for Lyme for that bite. Sounds suspicious.

[Revelation 911]

from the CDC

Facts about Tularemia

Tularemia is an infectious disease caused by a hardy bacterium, Francisella tularensis, found in animals (especially rodents, rabbits, and hares).

People can get tularemia many different ways, such as through the bite of an infected insect or other arthropod (usually a tick or deerfly), handling infected animal carcasses, eating or drinking contaminated food or water, or breathing in F. tularensis.

Symptoms of tularemia could include sudden fever, chills, headaches, muscle aches, joint pain, dry cough, progressive weakness, and pneumonia. Persons with pneumonia can develop chest pain and bloody spit and can have trouble breathing or can sometimes stop breathing. Other symptoms of tularemia depend on how a person was exposed to the tularemia bacteria. These symptoms can include ulcers on the skin or mouth, swollen and painful lymph glands, swollen and painful eyes, and a sore throat. Symptoms usually appear 3 to 5 days after exposure to the bacteria, but can take as long as 14 days.

Tularemia is not known to be spread from person to person, so people who have tularemia do not need to be isolated. People who have been exposed to F. tularensis should be treated as soon as possible. The disease can be fatal if it is not treated with the appropriate antibiotics.

A vaccine for tularemia is under review by the Food and Drug Administration and is not currently available in the United States.

[Maceman]

I had one on my thigh that caused a red swelling for 6 inches around

I urge yuo to get checked for Lyme disease or some other tick-borne illness.

[CDHart]

Thanks! You're the third person who has told me that, and I am calling my doctor as I type!

Carolyn

[Clintons Are White Trash]

Spinal Menningitis is a common way for Lyme Disease to manifest itself it left untreated. I received the bite in the first week of June and had no idea - didn't have a rash or it was in a place I couldn't see it. By July 1 I was very ill - Dr. thought it was a sinus infection by July 5 I was in the hospital running over 105 and hallucinating. Nasty stuff - don't ever want to do that again. I was out of the hospital over a week before I found out I was positive for Lyme.

BTW - I got this bit in Central Missouri at Meramec State Park. After I was recovered I called them to report this and they nonchalantly told me that they had some employees who experienced the same thing. I was furious that it wasn't posted at the entrance of the park as at the time, the CDC was saying there wasn't any Lyme disease in Missouri.

[LurkedLongEnough]

Thanks.

Here's a gem from the New York City Department of Health:
Tularemia: Significance as a Potential Bioterrorist Agent

+ Weaponized by the United States military during the biologic offensive program in the 1950s-1960s.
+ Highly infectious after aerosolization; infectious dose can be as low as 10 to 50 microorganisms if inhaled.
+ Aerosolized F. tularensis would cause typhoidal tularemia (a nonspecific, febrile illness), with high mortality rates (30-60%) if untreated.

[AlexW]

"They seem to cause more of an inflammation reaction than they used to"

I notice the same thing. I got to Europe in mid May, and found two ticks inbreeded, one on my stomach, and one on rear of upper leg. They were apparently from my cats that got into my luggage, before I left. They were very small and did not look like most of our ticks in west Tennessee.
They were very hard to remove, so my girlfriend had me see a surgeon that dug around in the bites to remove any parts.

After almost 8 weeks, the red and itching is just now starting to go.
I have been back in the US for almost 2 weeks, and darn if I did not get another one of the same type. It is now itching like crazy.
I have had many ticks in my life, but do not remember the bites lasting so long. I have always just pulled them off
with little or no problem or lasting effects.

Be sure and go to web sites that describe Lyme disease. This is my main worry with ticks.
If you have any flue-like symptoms in first week or two, it can be Lyme, and the bad effects may not show up for a year or more.
I started antibiotics as a precaution when I got these bites in May.

[CholeraJoe]

I knew there was a silver lining to living in Montana. Ticks and fleas don't survive the winters.

In the south, I had to dust my yard with diazinon granules every six weeks to keep the ticks and fleas down. You should consider that.