Latvia records rise in tularemia cases

Latvia has recorded a rise in tularemia cases, with 17 people diagnosed this year and all receiving hospital treatment, the Disease Prevention and Control Centre told LSM.

The number of cases has been increasing since the second half of last year. The disease is more widespread in the Zemgale and Riga regions.

Tularemia is an acute bacterial infection transmitted by animals, including rodents such as voles, water rats, muskrats and beavers, as well as hares. It can also be spread by arthropods such as ticks, mosquitoes and horseflies.

In most cases, infection is linked to spending time outdoors. Secretions from infected animals can contaminate the environment, and the bacterium can remain viable there for a long time. It may also persist in dust after the environment has dried out.

People most often become infected when the bacterium enters the body through damaged skin or mucous membranes. This can happen after a tick bite or an insect bite, through contact with infected animals or contaminated environments, or by consuming contaminated water or food. Infection is also possible by inhaling dust containing the bacterium.

Tularemia does not spread from person to person.

Symptoms and when to see a doctor

The disease often begins suddenly with fever, chills, weakness, headache and muscle pain. Skin ulcers, enlarged and painful lymph nodes, a sore throat, eye inflammation, coughing or pneumonia may also develop.

Anyone who develops symptoms of tularemia or another infectious disease after a tick bite or insect bite, contact with a wild animal, exposure to an environment potentially contaminated by rodents, consumption of unsafe water or work in a dusty environment should contact a doctor immediately. Patients should mention these risk factors, as this may help with faster diagnosis and treatment.

With appropriate treatment, tularemia has a fatality rate of approximately 2 percent.