Yahoo : US finds fever bacteria

[tocqueville]

US finds fever bacteria during war protest weekend Sat Oct 1,11:07 PM ET

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Small amounts of a bacteria that causes "rabbit fever" were found on Washington's National Mall last weekend as thousands of protesters marched against the Iraq War, U.S. health authorities said on Saturday.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said several government environmental air monitors in the Mall area detected low levels of Francisella tularensis bacteria that cause Tularemia, commonly known as rabbit fever, on September 24-25.

Public health agencies had no reports of any related human or animal illnesses caused by the bacteria.

The CDC said it issued an alert on Friday night as a precaution so medical personnel were aware of the situation and could report any suspected cases

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051002/ts_nm/bacteria_dc

[Why Syzygy]

1. An "alert"?

An ALERT? ON FRIDAY NIGHT?

This is very smelly. Still and again.

edit: oh wait. There are rodents in the WH. That must explain it.

[henslee]

2. So all you librul commies better just stay home and write LTTE's i

if you want to proteset... otherwise you will get sickie sickie....
Agent Mike

[Missy M]

3. This is one strange story!!!

[converted_democrat]

4. Snip-

"The Washington Post said the germ that causes tularemia is considered a biohazard because it is highly infectious and was tested in the 1960s by the United States as a biological weapon."

edit to add link- It's at the bottom of the page.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20051002/ts_nm/bacteria_dc

[RC]

6. Its been posted here on DU that Rabbit Fever was not very infectious

in human to human contact.

[converted_democrat]

9. I could be wrong, but I don't think it's possible to transmit rabbit

fever, person to person at all. At least from what I've read. Here's a link.

http://www.nbc4.com/news/5044125/detail.html?subid=1010...


on edit- Highly infectious and contagious are two completely separate terms. Just because something is highly infectious does not make it contagious. Contagious usually refers to being easily spread person to person, while highly infectious means that if you come into contact with the agent, it has a high rate of infection.

[Kailassa]

13. if you were there, take care

That's correct, you cannot catch it from another person. However it was found on airfilters in 6 different places along the march route, indicating it was dispersed as an aerosol. When caught by breathing the bacteria in the disease is much more serious than when contracted through the skin (as when handling infected rabbits).

If anyone who was there develops lip sores, flu symptoms or ulcerations they should be tested for Tularemia immediately. Untreated, and caught in this way, it is said to have a 30-60% death rate.

There is heaps of info on the net about it, just type Tularemia into google or yahoo.

[qanda]

5. What are you supposed to do if you fear you have it?

My son woke up with a fever on Friday and it continued into yesterday. This is starting to scare me.

[drduffy]

7. from medhelp.org

RABBIT FEVER - A rare infection (less than 200 cases per year in the U.S.) caused by the bacteria Francisella tularensis. F. tularensis is found in many animals (rabbits) and may be transmitted by direct contact or via insect bite (ticks and deer fly). Humans can also contract the illness via the direct contact with the infected animal carcass (break in the skin). The illness is characterized by an ulcerative lesion at the site of the inoculation with regional lymph node swelling, pneumonia, fever, chills, headache, muscle pains, and joint stiffness. Risk factors include an exposure to rabbits or recent tick bite. A vaccine is available for high risk workers. Treatment is with streptomycin or tetracycline. Tularemia is fatal in 5% of untreated cases and in less than 1% of treated cases.

[converted_democrat]

8. If you are worried, take him to the doctor. Does he have the symptoms?

This stuff was found in low levels, most likely your son has the cold or the flu. However, if he is presenting with the symptoms take him to the doctor, and tell him that your son may have been infected with Rabbit Fever. It is not something they look for right off the bat, so it is important that the doctor knows what he is looking for. (If you are uncomfortable telling the doc that you were at the protest, just tell him your son came into contact with an infected rabbit.) Rabbit Fever is very treatable, and as long as the doctor knows what he is looking for, everything will be fine. Chances are it's just cold or flu, but I'm a Mom too, and I understand your worry. I hope you son feels better soon.



These are the symptoms.
Sudden fever
Chills
Headaches
Muscle aches
Joint pain
Dry cough
Conjunctivitis

http://www.nbc4.com/news/5044125/detail.html?subid=1010...

(The symptoms are listed halfway down the page.)

[qanda]

11. I just checked him and he no longer has a fever

I will watch him closely today for any other symptoms, but you are probably right that it's nothing more than a cold. I'm probably just a bit freaked out that this is even a possibility. Thanks for the information.

BTW, I would have no problem telling anyone that I was at the protest. In fact, my son would tell them before I could. :)

[ReadTomPaine]

10. Contact the CDC if you think he's been exposed - they will expedite ...

treatment and testing at whatever hospital or similar facility you want to take him too.

Here's the link from yesterday posted by someone who's done this:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1819039&mesg_id=1820363

[BrainRants]

12. Just another "coincidence" I'm sure.

And it's also a coincidence that it wasn't there during the "freedom" march last weekend.

Yeah, right.

[lonestarnot]

14. All the bacteria on eath couldn't have kept me away! Fuck those people!

I'm going again! I say we start organizing now!

[many a good man]

15. Anti-war fever = "rabbit fever" ???

Sounds like a controlled test to me. Tularemia is easily reproduced and detectable. The hard part is weaponizing it.

A massive gathering in one spot that just happens to have sophisticated sensing equipment already installed is an ideal real-world laboratory.

Evidence shows that it must have been released by some airborne method. The only other method is direct contact or through ticks. Ticks wouldn't have set off the sensors.

Maybe they've developed a sophisticated process that can be used with other more deadly biological agents and this was just a final test.

[Dunvegan]

16. Tularemia is, unfortunately, an identified possible biowarfare pathogen...

...which is why there has been a bit of eye-brow arching...and there are a number of existing threads on this:

====================================================================
EDITED/UPDATED: Recent DU Tularemia Threads

Original Post:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4941928

Subsequent Posts:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1819039
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4944538
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4943575
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4941786
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4942470
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x4080130
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2127214
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2127255
====================================================================

All this comes from an original poster at DU...and an article in the WaPo quoting the CDC:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/30/AR2005093001775.html

Biohazard Sensors Triggered
Mall Germ Levels Likely Not a Threat

By Martin Weil and Susan Levine
Washington Post Staff Writers
Saturday, October 1, 2005; Page B01

Biohazard sensors showed the presence of small amounts of potentially dangerous tularemia bacteria in the Mall area last weekend as huge crowds assembled there, but health officials said they believed the levels were too low to be a threat.

Health authorities in the Washington area were notified yesterday that the bacteria were found in and near the area between the U.S. Capitol and the Lincoln Memorial, where crowds gathered Saturday for an antiwar rally and a book festival.

*snip*

(D.C. Public Health Director Gregg A. Pane) said it was puzzling that the finding was from a day when the Mall was packed with people.

"Why that day? That's what is not explained," Pane said. "It was just this 24-hour period and none since."