Dead rabbit in Jefferson County, Colorado found to have tularemia

Health officials in Jefferson County, Colorado, said a rabbit died from tularemia, a rare infectious disease found in animals that can affect humans.

Tularemia is typically spread through the bite of infected ticks and deer flies or through handling infected sick or dead animals, usually rabbits. While less common, the disease can also spread by eating the meat of infected rabbits, inhaling airborne bacteria, or drinking food or water contaminated with urine from an infected animal.

The disease is rare as there are about 200 human cases of the disease in the United States each year. This is the first case of tularemia in an animal in Colorado this year and is the first case of tularemia in an animal in Jefferson County since 2015. The infected rabbit was found in the Golden/Lakewood area near South Table Mountain Park.

If it is detected early, tularemia can be treated with antibiotics. However, if diagnosis and treatment are delayed, life-threatening complications may follow. Symptoms include fever, a skin ulcer at the site of infection, and swollen lymph glands. If it was caused by ingesting contaminated food and water, symptoms might include sore throat, mouth sores, stomach pain, and diarrhea.

Jefferson County Public Health officials remind residents not to feed or entice any rodent or rabbit species into your yard. Also, residents should eliminate places rabbits, and other rodents could live or hide, such as piles of lumber, broken cement, trash and weeds around homes. Residents should also eliminate overhanging trees from roof and windows and make sure that houses and outbuildings are as rodent-proof as possible, and, above all, avoid contact with all sick and dead rabbits and rodents. Jefferson County officials also suggest that residents do regular tick checks and use insect repellent when outside.