Overview
- Local health officials this week announced there are three probable tularemia cases in Suffolk County and said final laboratory confirmation requires additional testing and clinical review that can take several weeks.
- Tularemia is a rare bacterial infection most often spread by ticks or flies that have contacted sick rabbits or rodents and it is not passed person to person.
- Clinicians say the disease is treatable with antibiotics such as doxycycline but diagnosis can be slow and recovery may take weeks to months, as a 9-year-old Riverhead boy diagnosed in May has experienced.
- Officials and doctors are urging people to use insect repellent, wear long clothing, perform thorough tick checks after outdoor activity, avoid sick or dead wild animals, and wear gloves when handling wildlife.
- Suffolk has recorded small numbers of cases in recent years and national totals run roughly 150 to 300 cases annually, so public-health alerts and testing delays are likely to shape local surveillance and prevention efforts in the coming weeks.