People can become infected with rabbits

Contagious Hasepest in North Rhine-Westphalia can skip on people

10/18/2011

In a dead hare in the district of Düren in North Rhine-Westphalia, the infectious to humans pathogens of hare plague (tularemia) were detected, according to the release of the Veterinary Office Düren. The notifiable disease can cause severe health problems in humans, but is relatively rare in Germany.

In addition to the rather harmless symptoms of hare plague such as sweating, fever, headache, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, the infectious disease can also potentially have life-threatening consequences. For example, lung abscesses, meningitis (meningitis) and inflammation of the heart (pericarditis) are at risk. As the disease can basically be transmitted from animals to humans, all evidence of the pathogens in rabbits is registered by the veterinary office and warnings issued accordingly. So also in the case of the current evidence of hare plague in a hare from the district of Düren. Overall, however, hare plague is relatively rare in Germany today, and accordingly infections with the human pathogen are the absolute exception. Especially for hunters, however, there is an increased risk of infection because the pathogens can be relatively easily transmitted in the evisceration and hides of wild animals. According to the Veterinary Office, therefore, all hunters should urgently pay attention to the usual hygiene measures such as gloves and mouthguards.

Rabbit plague also life-threatening for humans?
According to the Veterinary Office, however, there is no danger of infection when consuming the meat of animals infected with rabies, as long as the meat has been sufficiently heated beforehand. The greatest danger of infection lies in direct contact with the infected animals or their blood, according to the experts. Anyone who suffers from symptoms such as fever, headache, muscle cramps, and nausea and vomiting after coming into contact with wild animals or eating wild game meat should urgently consult a doctor, according to the veterinary office. For the most deadly disease in rodents, can also have life-threatening consequences in humans. Thus, the mortality rate for failure to treat in the literature is given at around 33 percent. However, timely treatment with antibiotics usually avoids serious consequences of the rabbit's pest. The reason for the panic is the current evidence of hare plague pathogens generally not, because in the large hare population, it is more or less normal that every now and then an animal is infected, so the assessment of veterinarians. (Fp)

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Picture: Grey59