Rabbit Hunting - TULAREMIA

[trouter-chris]

Hello folks was wondering how many others out there across Canada have noticed posted bulletins, write ups or even information in the hunting summaries on the bacteria called 'tularemia'.

The short and skinny is that it can be caught by breathing in contaminated dust, through entrance into the blood stream via infected wound or even through injesting it through uncooked meat! The good that I read is that once you have it it can be treated with antibiotics and most retain lifelong immunity. As well it cannot be passed from human to human.

In the hunting summary over the past couple of years here in NB they now warn about it, particularly those that hunt rabbits. I have been hunting rabbits since I was 11...I'm now 36 and to the best of my knowledge have never encountered this bacteria which can make a human desparately ill. Was just looking for any information anyone else has come across or perhaps some of you have encountered it yourself.

Chris

 

[bill c68]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tularemia

 

[Fall Guy]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tularemia

Holy tinfoil hat Batman!

Practical research into using Tularemia as a bioweapon took place at Camp Detrick in the 1950s. It was viewed as an attractive agent because:-

it is easy to aerosolize
it is highly infective; fewer than 10 bacteria are required to infect
it is non-persistent and easy to decontaminate (unlike anthrax)
it is highly incapacitating to infected persons
it has low-lethality, which is useful where enemy soldiers are in proximity to non-combattants, eg civilians

 

[BIGREDD]

I was sick for months in the mid 80's ... thought it was flu then mono. Thakfully my doctor was an od school English doc and he knew I hunted rabbits with beagles... he tested for Tularemia and Bob's your Uncle. A round of antibiotics and I was back to normal in about six weeks.
Not very pleasant and very easy to catch... I think I got mine while skinning rabbits and nicking my hand... but no way to know for sure.
I think ticks are more deadly... pay attention and be careful.
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/tularemia.htm

 

[Big Guy]

I've been hunting rabbits for over 40 yrs. Never been sick or heard of anyone getting "two Malaria"

 

[303carbine]

wabbits

The cottontails here on the Island are an introduced species and considered vermin....so every opportunity I get I rid this part of the world of a few. Shooting vermin at 200 yards with the 338 keeps you in practice for deer season.

 

[huntinstuff]

spotted liver and a "sluggish" rabbit can be signs of it. Any rabbit that doesnt hi-ball it when flushed might be a candidate. Shoot and leave it.

spotted liver was the old standby to see if the rabbit had the bug.

havent seen an outbreak or big problem here in alberta for quite a few years. but like BIGREDD says, if you get it, it can really put you down.

 

[trouter-chris]

It's the story like Bigredd's that I'm looking for. I have a few friends that think I'm crazy to use latex gloves and a mask when I clean the rabbits...but then again they don't seem to pitch in real quick either!!!!

 

[lupus]

i take it dogs can get it as well. if so there goes my dogs #1 joy in life

 

[dingus]

Maby this is the thing the instructor at our traping course in the 1980s was worried we would get from Vancouver Island Wolves!

He said we should wear gloves latex gloves skinning!
but he said what the wolves had could kill us not just make us sick.

I cant remember WTF it was the Wolves Had and it was NOT from eating the meat it was from contact with Blood or other body fluids i belive.

 

[trouter-chris]

wolf disease

Not sure what he would have been talking about but you could catch rabies from the mucous membranes of any animal if you had a place of transmission(an open wound etc.) to be exposed at. Wolves could possibly have the tularemia if they injested a rabbit which was infected.

Some pretty good feedback and discussion, we had the head biologist from the province at a club meeting a while back and he spoke directly to the different diseases that we could be exposed to as hunters and trappers. Never gave much consideration to any of them before as I have skinned hundreds probably thousands of rabbits over the last 25 years. I just thought to research a little bit further as noone was able to give any hard facts as to how many cases occur in Canada by province each year.

Keep the feedback coming!

 

[xeon]

I hear that its not big of a problem, and the odds of catching it are slim. With that said, its still possible, but very unlikely.

 

[dingus]

That thing wolves get is called Hydatid Disease.
Boonerbuck reminded me on the Vancouver island wolves Thread what it was we were being taught to be Warry of from wolves.

He explains it in detail in that Thread if anyones interested.

yotes can get it to!