Common Name: Tularemia; Rabbit fever

Scientific Name: Francisella tularensis

General Overview:  As the name "rabbit fever" implies, tularemia is a bacterium spread primarily by rabbits and various rodents.  Occurring naturally in the United States, tularemia is not transmissible from person-to-person.  Rabbit fever can be contracted through eating infected food/drinking infected water, being bitten by a carrier (e.g. - tick, deerfly) or breathing contaminated air.  Inhalational tularemia creates an elevated risk of contracting pneumonia or other bronchial infections.  At lower concentrations, inhalational tularemia is indistinguishable from another potential bioterrorism agent, "Q fever".

Tularemia is highly infectious and, if properly weaponized, is an extremely dangerous threat to public health.  Today, the FDA is reviewing a possible vaccine for the disease for use in the U.S.