Tweet
August 6, 2009 4:54 PM ET
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Two Fairbanks residents have been diagnosed with tularemia, a potentially fatal bacterial infection more commonly found in pets.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game veterinarian Kimberlee Beckmen learned of the outbreak from state public health authorities late last week.
The disease can be transmitted to humans from snowshoe hares, and the hare population has been high in the Interior.
It's unclear how the Fairbanks residents contracted it.
Beckmen says people are usually infected through the skin by handling sick hares, but they can also get it when bitten by ticks, flies or mosquitoes that fed on sick hares.
A Fish and Game spokeswoman says the Fairbanks patients were treated with antibiotics and are doing well.
FAIRBANKS, Alaska (AP) - Two Fairbanks residents have been diagnosed with tularemia, a potentially fatal bacterial infection more commonly found in pets.
Alaska Department of Fish and Game veterinarian Kimberlee Beckmen learned of the outbreak from state public health authorities late last week.
The disease can be transmitted to humans from snowshoe hares, and the hare population has been high in the Interior.
It's unclear how the Fairbanks residents contracted it.
Beckmen says people are usually infected through the skin by handling sick hares, but they can also get it when bitten by ticks, flies or mosquitoes that fed on sick hares.
A Fish and Game spokeswoman says the Fairbanks patients were treated with antibiotics and are doing well.
