Suspected human case of tularemia found in Suwon, raw beef liver suspected

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A suspected human case of tularemia, a rare disease carried by rodents, insects and wild animals, was found in a resident of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, health authorities said Monday.

A man in his 20s experienced abdominal pain and fever after eating raw beef liver at a restaurant on June 24. He was admitted to a local hospital, where he tested positive for the tularemia bacterium. Although he dined with a companion, only he exhibited symptoms. He recovered and was discharged from hospital on July 2, four days after being admitted.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is currently awaiting the results of a serological test to confirm whether the case is indeed tularemia. The route of infection will also need to be confirmed.

"We were informed that test results come in about a week to 10 days. If the diagnosis confirms tularemia, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is expected to announce the results," an official at the state-run body said.

Tularemia, also known as rabbit fever, is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis and spread through insect bites, or exposure to infected rabbits and other wild animals, or by consuming contaminated food or water.

It is classified as a first-class infectious disease in South Korea -- illnesses with the most serious potential impacts because of their high severity or transmissibility, such as the Ebola virus, smallpox, plague and anthrax.

While tularemia is not known to be highly contagious, it can be fatal if it infects the lungs or spreads through the bloodstream.

In South Korea, a confirmed case of tularemia occurred in 1997 when a man in his 40s cooked and ate a wild rabbit that had been dead for several days in a hillside area of Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. The man recovered and was discharged after about 10 days of hospitalization.

By Shin Ji-hye(shinjh@heraldcorp.com)