tularemia

American  

[too-luh-ree-mee-uh] / ˌtu ləˈri mi ə /

Or tularaemia

noun

Pathology, Veterinary Pathology.

1. a plaguelike disease of rabbits, squirrels, etc., caused by a bacterium, Francisella tularensis, transmitted to humans by insects or ticks or by the handling of infected animals and causing fever, muscle pain, and symptoms associated with the point of entry into the body.

---

tularemia Scientific  

/ to̅o̅′lə-rē′mē-ə /

1. An infectious disease characterized by intermittent fever and swelling of the lymph nodes, caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis. It chiefly affects wild rabbits and rodents but can also be transmitted to humans through the bite of various insects or through contact with infected animals.

---

Other Word Forms

• tularaemic adjective
• tularemic adjective

Etymology

Origin of tularemia

1920–25, Tulare, California county where first found + -emia

Example Sentences

Squirrels carry some diseases that can be transmitted to humans, including Lyme disease and tularemia, which causes flu-like symptoms and skin ulcers.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 25, 2025

In 2017, a kidney transplant recipient in Nevada died from the rare bacterial infection tularemia just days after receiving a new organ.

From Washington Post • Aug. 3, 2022

But tularemia is rare — Washington has three or four cases each year — and rabbit-borne plague hasn’t been documented in the state for several years.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 29, 2022

But the reports reveal several cases where workers left their laboratories and later tested positive for tuberculosis, tularemia, and other diseases.

From Salon • Jun. 5, 2022

We’re similarly liable to pick up diseases from wild animals, such as the tularemia that hunters can get from skinning wild rabbits.

From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond