Tularaemia in a brown hare (Lepus europaeus) in 2013: first case in the Netherlands in 60 years

Euro Surveill. 2013 Dec 5;18(49):20655. doi: 10.2807/1560-7917.es2013.18.49.20655.

Abstract

Tularaemia has not been reported in Dutch wildlife since 1953. To enhance detection, as of July 2011, brown hares (Lepus europaeus) submitted for postmortem examination in the context of non-targeted wildlife disease surveillance, were routinely tested for tularaemia by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Francisella tularensis subspecies holarctica infection was confirmed in a hare submitted in May 2013. The case occurred in Limburg, near the site of the 1953 case. Further surveillance should clarify the significance of this finding.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Disease Reservoirs / microbiology
  • Disease Reservoirs / veterinary*
  • Francisella tularensis / genetics
  • Francisella tularensis / isolation & purification*
  • Hares / microbiology*
  • Humans
  • Netherlands
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction / veterinary
  • Sentinel Surveillance
  • Tularemia / microbiology
  • Tularemia / pathology
  • Tularemia / veterinary*