Reducing Risk

Key points

  • Tularemia is caused by infection with the bacteria Francisella tularensis.
  • Transmission routes are multiple and include tick bite, deer fly bite, inhalation, ingestion, and skin contact with infected animals. In addition, people could be exposed as a result of bioterrorism.

Prophylaxis

  • Tularemia post-exposure prophylaxis is recommended in cases of laboratory exposure to infectious materials (see Testing and Diagnosis for more information). Doxycycline (100 mg orally twice daily for 10 – 14 days) is generally recommended for prophylaxis in adults. Ciprofloxacin (500 mg orally twice daily for 10 – 14 days) may be an alternative for patients unable to take doxycycline.
  • Vaccination for tularemia is not generally available in the United States, nor is it useful in management of ill patients.

Infection control and environmental decontamination

  • Isolation is not recommended for tularemia patients, given the lack of person-to-person transmission. In hospitals, standard precautions are recommended.
  • Laboratory personnel should be alerted when tularemia is suspected. Standard diagnostic procedures with clinical materials can be performed in biosafety level 2 conditions. All work with suspect cultures of F. tularensis should be performed in a biological safety cabinet. Manipulation of cultures and other procedures that might produce aerosols or droplets (e.g., grinding, centrifuging, or vigorous shaking) should be conducted under biosafety level 3 conditions.
  • Bodies of patients who die of tularemia should be handled using standard precautions. Autopsy procedures likely to produce aerosols or droplets should be avoided.
  • Clothing or linens contaminated with body fluids of patients with tularemia should be disinfected per standard hospital procedure.