What is rabbit fever? Disease you can catch mowing your lawn has infected 3 on Long Island

The Suffolk County Department of Health (SCDHS) announced three potential cases of an illness known as “rabbit fever.”The highly infectious bacterial disease tularemia is known to spread through tick and deerfly bites, as well as through infected rabbits, hares and rodents.While the disease is rare, four cases were reported in 2024, the highest number since before 2014, as the illness is more common during May through September.One nine-year-old victim, John Detmer, became sick in late April after a tick off was pulled off his head after he’d been playing in his yard that doubles as a haven for wild rabbits, despite never touching the animals.It took multiple doctor visits before an infectious disease specialist diagnosed John with the rare disease.While tularemia can be treated with antibiotics, the infection can be life-threatening if left untreated.However, it could be weeks before the cases are confirmed, as “a combination of laboratory testing and fulfillment of specific clinical or epidemiologic criteria” is required, SCDHS told ABC7.“Rabbit fever” is one nickname for tularemia, an infection from the bacteria Francisella tularensis.Other names include deer fly fever, wild hare disease and lawnmower tularemia.This disease commonly spreads from infected animals to people through insect bites (such as a tick or deerfly), skin contact with infected animals, contaminated food or water or breathing in bacteria from agricultural dust or exposed tissues (if a lawnmower runs over an animal.)There are several forms of tularemia:While uncommon — there were fewer than 200 cases in the US in 2023, according to the CDC — the number may be rising due to climate change, especially as New York is smack dab in the middle of its worst tick season yet.Tularemia symptoms can vary based on where the infection occurs, such as the lymph nodes, skin, eyes, throat, intestines or lungs.Most of the general symptoms include abdominal pain, fever, chills, headache, lo...