Michael Buettcher, Adrian Egli, Sarah Albini, Ekkehardt Altpeter, Anton Labutin, Valeria Guidi, Mauro Tonolla, Reto Lienhard, Onya Opota, Patrizia Schmid, Tsering Wuethrich, Kristina M Schmidt
In the last 10 years, an increase in tularemia cases has been observed in both humans and animals in Switzerland. In these, infection with Francisella tularensis, the causative agent of the zoonotic disease tularemia, can occur through arthropod vectors or contact to infected animals or exposure to contaminated environmental sources. Currently, we are only able to postulate potential aetiologies: (i) behavioral changes of humans with more exposure to endemic habitats of infected arthropod vectors; (ii) an increased rate of tularemia infected ticks; (iii) increasing number and geographical regions of tick biotopes; (iv) increasing and/or more diverse reservoir populations; (v) increasing presence of bacteria in the environment; (vi) raised awareness and increased testing among physicians; (vii) improved laboratory techniques including molecular testing...
March 14, 2024: Infection