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Review
. 2009 Mar-Apr;40(2):7.
doi: 10.1051/vetres:2008045. Epub 2008 Oct 28.

Francisella tularensis: an arthropod-borne pathogen

Jeannine M Petersen  1 , Paul S Mead, Martin E Schriefer
Affiliations
Review

Francisella tularensis: an arthropod-borne pathogen

Jeannine M Petersen et al. Vet Res. 2009 Mar-Apr.

Abstract

Arthropod transmission of tularemia occurs throughout the northern hemisphere. Few pathogens show the adaptability of Francisella tularensis to such a wide array of arthropod vectors. Nonetheless, arthropod transmission of F. tularensis was last actively investigated in the first half of the 20th century. This review will focus on arthropod transmission to humans with respect to vector species, modes of transmission, geographic differences and F. tularensis subspecies and clades.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
(A) The distribution of human infections caused by F. tularensis subsp. holarctica (type B) (light gray squares) and subsp. tularensis clades A1 (black circles) and A2 (gray circles) in the USA. Human infection data is from Staples et al. [48]. Cases are plotted randomly with the county of infection. Infections represent all routes of exposure (arthropod, animal contact, inhalation, etc.). (B) Approximate geographic distributions of tick species associated with human tularemia in the USA, D. variabilis (light gray diagonal striped shading), A. americanum (black shading) and D. andersoni (gray shading). Tick distributions are from Brown et al. [3].
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