Biologist contracts tularemia from seal in first-of-its-kind case
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Key takeaways:
- A wildlife volunteer cut herself with a scalpel while performing a necropsy on a harbor seal.
- She contracted tularemia, or rabbit fever, which is usually found in hares, rabbits and rodents.
The first known human case of tularemia contracted from a marine mammal occurred after a biologist cut herself while conducting an autopsy of a harbor seal in Washington state, investigators reported.
“Although most tularemia cases acquired in the northwestern United States are associated with environmental exposure or contact with rodents or lagomorphs, marine mammals should be considered a potential source of infection,” Wendy Inouye, MS, an epidemiologist in the Kitsap Public Health District in Washington, and colleagues wrote in MMWR.
“Health care providers, public health investigators and persons working with marine wildlife need to be aware of the potential risk for tularemia and other zoonotic diseases associated with harbor seal contact,” they wrote.
Tularemia, which is also called rabbit fever, is caused by the gram-negative bacterium Francisella tularensis. Is typically found in rabbits, hares and other lagomorphs, as well as rodents. The infection is widespread in animals, according to the CDC, but causes only about 200 human cases per year in the U.S. Although there is no longer a vaccine for the infection, it can be treated with antibiotics.
Most cases in the United States occur in the south-central and northwestern regions of the country, in rural areas, and are caused by ticks and biting flies or directly from handling infected animals, as well as from ingestion of contaminated water or soil and inhalation of aerosolized bacteria.
On Oct. 3, 2023, a 32-year-old wildlife biologist for a nonprofit organization nicked her finger with a scalpel while performing a necropsy on a harbor seal that had been found dead along the South Puget Sound in Washington. Although the woman wore a surgical gown, goggles, a mask and gloves, she punctured her glove and cut her hand during the necropsy, according to Inouye and colleagues.
Over the course of the next 2 weeks, the wound healed but became inflamed and painful and on Oct. 20, 2023, the woman went to her primary care provider with fever, swollen lymph nodes, cough and congestion. According to the study, she was prescribed doxycycline and topical mupirocin and fully recovered.
Specimens from the harbor seal that were analyzed by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory and the CDC were positive for F. tularensis similar to strains researchers have found previously in the western U.S.
It was the first known detection of the bacterium in a marine mammal, Inouye and colleagues reported.
“Health care providers, public health investigators and persons working with marine wildlife need to be aware of the potential risk for tularemia and other zoonotic diseases associated with harbor seal contact and adhere to established safety protocols,” the researchers wrote.
References:
- CDC. Emergency preparedness and response: Frequently asked questions (FAQ) about tularemia. https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/tularemia/faq.asp. Last reviewed April 4, 2018. Accessed Aug. 28, 2024.
- Inouye W, et al. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 2024;doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm73333a3_w.
- NIH. Tularemia. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430905/. Last updated July 17, 2023. Accessed Aug. 28, 2024.
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