Health officials on Pueblo County announced Friday that a third wild rabbit has tested positive for tularemia.
The county health department says the discovery verifies tularemia — also known as rabbit fever — is throughout the area south of U.S. 50 in Pueblo West.
“Tularemia is naturally occurring in Pueblo County,” Vicki Carlton, program manager at the Pueblo City-County Health Department, said in a statement. “Residents are advised that tularemia-causing bacteria may always be present in some of the mammals — especially rabbits, rodents and hares and on the ground where these animals may be active.”
No human cases have been identified in Pueblo, however, this year.
Rabbits with tularemia were discovered in Pueblo County in July and May.
Last year in Colorado, officials . Before 2014, when there were 16 human cases, the state averaged about four cases a year.
