Investigating an airborne tularemia outbreak, Germany

Emerg Infect Dis. 2010 Feb;16(2):238-43. doi: 10.3201/eid1602.081727.

Abstract

In November 2005, an outbreak of tularemia occurred among 39 participants in a hare hunt in Hesse, Germany. Previously reported tularemia outbreaks in Germany dated back to the 1950s. We conducted a retrospective cohort study among participants and investigated the environment to identify risk factors for infection. Ten participants had serologic evidence of acute Francisella tularensis infection; 1 other participant died before laboratory confirmation was obtained. Presence within 5 meters of the place where disemboweled hares were rinsed with a water hose was the risk factor most strongly associated with infection (risk ratio 22.1; 95% confidence interval 13.2-154.3). Swabs taken at the game chamber and water samples were PCR negative for F. tularensis. Eleven of 14 hare parts showed low-level concentrations of F. tularensis, compatible with cross-contamination. More than half of case-patients may have acquired infection through inhalation of aerosolized droplets containing F. tularensis generated during rinsing of infected hares.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Aerosols
  • Aged
  • Animals
  • Child
  • Disease Outbreaks*
  • Francisella tularensis*
  • Germany / epidemiology
  • Hares
  • Humans
  • Inhalation Exposure*
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Odds Ratio
  • Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Serologic Tests
  • Tularemia / epidemiology*
  • Tularemia / transmission*
  • Young Adult
  • Zoonoses / transmission*

Substances

  • Aerosols