Rare disease found in Nevada woman

Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008 | 6:56 a.m.

Beyond the Sun

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention -- Tularemia

Tularemia, a rare disease often found in rabbits and rodents, has infected a west-central Nevada woman, according to health reports.

Known as "rabbit fever," tularemia is named after Tulare, Calif., where it swept through ground squirrels in 1911.

Richie Simmons of Smith Valley, in Lyon County, took a sick pet cat to a veterinarian, who diagnosed the feline with kidney problems. Simmons gave the sick animal its pills, forcing them down with her finger.

A small cut on Richie's finger allowed the disease to infect the woman, health officials said.

For more than a month Richie made several trips to a local emergency room, where she received antibiotics, but the infection in her finger and a high fever returned. Her sick cat had died weeks earlier, according to the International Society of Infectious Diseases.

A Smith Valley neighbor, Dr. P.J. Fry, saw Richie's finger, and opened and cleaned it. Fry sent a sample of the discharge to a lab, where it was diagnosed as tularemia.

The woman is recovering from her illness.

Two other cases of tularemia transmitted from cats to humans were reported in 1993 and 2000.

Discussion: 2 comments so far…

By lemahj

8/26/08 at 8:02 a.m.

Suggest removal

"Two other cases of tularemia transmitted from cats to humans were reported in 1993 and 2000."

This is just one more reason to forget the myopic TNR program for feral cats.
By keithw

9/10/08 at 11:27 a.m.

Suggest removal

That's three cases in 15 years. More people are killed by dog attacks, bee stings, lightening, sharks, auto accidents, falling down stairs, food poisoning, the list goes on and on. Let's worry about something that is a real threat.

keithw