Patience Island Rabbit Tests Positive for Highly Contagious Bacteria
By ecoRI News staff
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| A New England cottontail rabbit recently tested positive for tularemia. (DEM) |
A New England cottontail rabbit on Rhode Island’s Patience Island recently tested positive for tularemia, a highly infectious bacteria that affects humans, pets, and a wide range of wildlife species, especially rabbits and squirrels.
Located
off the northwest coast of Prudence Island in Portsmouth, Patience Island is
currently home to a New England cottontail rabbit population, a candidate
species for federal endangered species protection. The rabbits on Patience
Island have been used as a source for stocking rabbits throughout their
historic range from Maine to New York.
As
part of this large-scale regional effort,
Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management (DEM) staff annually trap
rabbits to move to areas throughout the region to bolster declining
populations. All rabbits trapped on Patience Island are given a general health
evaluation.
On
Jan. 27 a male New England cottontail was captured on Patience Island to be
part of a restoration. This rabbit died Feb. 3 while being prepared for
release. The rabbit was necropsied Feb. 4 and a positive test for tularemia was
returned March 3, according to DEM.
Tularemia, or rabbit fever, is spread by
biting flies, mosquitoes, and ticks, and by contact with infected animals.
Tularemia can also be spread through inhalation or ingestion of bacteria particles,
and as few as 10 to 50 particles can cause an infection. Tularemia isn’t known
to be spread person to person.
Tularemia is rare and only one human case has been reported in Rhode Island since 2008. Symptoms include fever, skin ulcers, and enlargement of lymph nodes. Tularemia is a treatable infection; however, if left untreated it can be fatal to humans, pets, and wildlife.
DEM
is warning people to avoid being bitten by insects or any contact with wildlife
while on Patience Island. Ticks that transmit tularemia to humans include the
dog tick, the wood tick, and the lone star tick.
The
Rhode Island Department of Health recommends: avoiding wooded and brushy areas
with high grass and leaves; wearing long pants and long-sleeve shirts when
outside; tucking your pants into your socks so ticks don’t crawl under your
clothes; wearing light-colored clothing so you can see ticks more easily;
taking a shower as soon as you come inside if you have been in grassy or wooded
areas; doing a full-body tick check using a mirror and parents should check
their kids for ticks and pay special attention to the area in and around the
ears, in the belly button, behind the knees, between the legs, around the
waist, and in their hair; and checking your pets for ticks because they can
bring ticks into the home.