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Prevalence of Francisella tularensis in brown hare (Lepus europaeus) populations in Lower Saxony, Germany

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Abstract

Francisella tularensis is the aetiological agent of tularemia. Hares, rabbits, and small rodents are the main hosts, but humans can be infected and develop severe clinical symptoms. In Germany, tularemia in humans was a rare disease during the last four decades, but since 2005, this zoonosis seems to be re-emerging. However, only very little is known about the prevalence in the host populations. Therefore, in a study performed from 2006 to 2009, we investigated 2,121 brown hares (Lepus europaeus) and 41 European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) located in Lower Saxony, Germany for the occurrence of this zoonotic bacterium by PCR and bacterial culture. F. tularensis subsp. holarctica was detected in an average of 1.1% of these animals. Two hot spots were found in northern Lower Saxony indicating outbreaks of tularemia even in hares. This study demonstrates the occurrence of F. tularensis subsp. holarctica within the hare population in Germany. Hunters, medical practitioners, and public health professionals should be aware of the risk which could come from this zoonotic agent especially in the hot spot areas.

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Acknowledgments

The project was supported by the Lower Saxony Ministry of Food, Agriculture, Consumer Protection and Regional Development. The authors thank Iris Albrecht, Sabine Baumann, Ingola von Keyserlingk, Sandra Schöbel (LAVES), Christoph Kleinemeier (BIM), Renate Danner, and Byrgit Hofmann (FLI) for excellent technical assistance. In particular, we thank all hunters of the Landesjägerschaft Niedersachsen e.V. for their active support in collecting samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES), Veterinary Institute Hannover, Hannover, Germany

    Martin Runge, Michael von Keyserlingk & Silke Braune

  2. Institute of Wildlife Research (IWFo), University of Veterinary Medicine Hannover, Foundation, Hannover, Germany

    Ulrich Voigt, Andreas Grauer, Klaus Pohlmeyer & Martina Wedekind

  3. National Reference Laboratory for Tularemia (Human Medicine), Bundeswehr Institute of Microbiology (BIM), Munich, Germany

    Wolf D. Splettstoesser & Erik Seibold

  4. Friedrich-Loeffler-Institut (FLI), Institute for Bacterial Infections and Zoonoses, Jena, Germany

    Peter Otto & Wolfgang Müller

Authors
  1. Martin Runge
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  2. Michael von Keyserlingk
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  3. Silke Braune
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  4. Ulrich Voigt
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  5. Andreas Grauer
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  6. Klaus Pohlmeyer
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  7. Martina Wedekind
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  8. Wolf D. Splettstoesser
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  9. Erik Seibold
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  10. Peter Otto
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  11. Wolfgang Müller
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Runge.

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Communicated by C. Gortázar

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Runge, M., von Keyserlingk, M., Braune, S. et al. Prevalence of Francisella tularensis in brown hare (Lepus europaeus) populations in Lower Saxony, Germany. Eur J Wildl Res 57, 1085–1089 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-011-0522-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10344-011-0522-1

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