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Friday, April 2, 2010 2:50 AM
By Jim Woods
THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH
Franklin County officials have detected a higher-than-normal level of a bacterium that could be used as a biological agent, causing them to contact a number of state and federal agencies, including Homeland Security.
But Columbus Health Commissioner Dr. Teresa C. Long said there is no cause for alarm about the tularemia bacterium.
“At this time, we believe that this finding is not a public health risk,” Long said.
Long said the reading detected yesterday at one of the county's air stations could have been the result of a newer, more-sensitive testing process that started yesterday.
The reading was not high enough to cause concern for humans or animals, she said. Officials wouldn't say from which air station the reading came.
Tularemia can be used as an agent for biological terrorism, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Long, however, said she didn't know of such a case in this country.
Columbus Public Health and the Franklin County Board of Health regularly are in contact with agencies such as Homeland Security and the FBI to share information, said Jose Rodriguez, spokesman for Columbus Public Health. He said this notification was routine.
Tularemia occurs naturally in Ohio, though it also can be spread via ticks, insects, rabbits and rodents. No cases of tularemia have been reported recently in this area, Long said.
The most-recently reported case was in Franklin County in 2009, the result of a tick bite. That person recovered.
Symptoms of tularemia appear within three to five days of infection. They can include sudden fever, chills, headache, diarrhea, muscles aches, joint pain, dry cough and weakness. Pneumonia also can set in. If treated early with antibiotics, the patient can recover.
If a person has such symptoms, he or she should contact a doctor, Rodriguez said.
jwoods@dispatch.comTularemia (also known as Pahvant Valley plague,[1][/suP] rabbit fever,[1][/suP] deer fly fever, Ohara's fever [2][/suP]:286[/suP]) is a serious infectious disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis.[3][/suP] A gram-negative, non-motile coccobacillus, the bacterium has several subspecies with varying degrees of virulence. The most important of those is F. tularensis tularensis (Type A), which is found in lagomorphs in North America and is highly virulent for humans and domestic rabbits. F. tularensis palaearctica (Type B) occurs mainly in aquatic rodents (beavers, muskrats) in North America and in hares and small rodents in northern Eurasia. It is less virulent for humans and rabbits.[4][/suP] The primary vectors are ticks and deer flies, but the disease can also be spread through other arthropods.[3][/suP] The disease is named after Tulare County, California.
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