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Outdoor activities, such as camping, hiking, fishing, or picnicking, offer
obvious rewards. However, they also present dangers—dangers so small you
can’t see them, but they’re as deadly as any you’ll ever meet in
your lifetime.
What are these tiny hazards? Giardia lamblia, tularemia, hanta
virus, plague, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, hepatitis, and rabies, to
name just a few of the hundreds of bacteria, viruses, and organisms that
can infect hunters, fishermen, campers, and hikers. Many of you have heard
of rabies, hepatitis, plague, and maybe even the highly publicized hanta
virus and Lyme disease, but what about the others? Maybe the more common
names will spark your memory: Giardia lamblia is also called beaver
fever, and tularemia is rabbit fever.
Beaver Fever
According to Opflow (a publication of the American Water Works
Association), beaver fever is caused by the most common disease-causing,
intestinal parasite (Giardia lamblia) in the United States. This
strong-willed micro-bug can thrive in a wide temperature range and fends
off typical chlorination and filtration procedures. The parasite enters
the water supply through the feces of a host, and while many animals can
serve as a host, the main culprit is thought to be the beaver. Symptoms
include severe diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, fatigue, and may mimic a peptic
ulcer or gall-bladder disease. Symptoms usually appear from five to 25
days after exposure.
The best way to avoid this disease is to never drink directly from
creeks, rivers, lakes, ponds, and other free-flowing or free-standing
bodies of water that animals or people use as toilets. Other effective
methods include boiling drinking water or using water-filtration devices
especially designed to combat Giardia. Some purification tablets
that contain iodine are effective, too, but you may wish to add some
pre-sweetened drink mix to improve the taste of the treated water. One
thing to remember: Beaver fever can be transmitted from one person to
another, especially if the infection involves a young child, infant, or
handicapped person who requires help in controlling an active case of
diarrhea.
Rabbit Fever
Tularemia is a disease caused by a bacterium, Francisella tularensis,
which can affect both animals and humans. Most cases occur during the
summer when deerflies and ticks are abundant and in the early winter
months during rabbit-hunting season. You can get tularemia from the bite
of infected blood-sucking insects, such as deerflies. You also can get it
by getting blood or tissue from an infected animal into your eyes, mouth
or openings in your skin, such as cuts and scratches. Another way of
contracting the disease is by eating rabbit meat that has not been cooked
well. Rabbit fever is not communicable.
Symptoms of rabbit fever include fever, chills, headaches, muscle
aches, chest pains, and coughing. They usually appear within three to five
days after exposure, although they may appear in as little as two or as
many as 10 days from infection. Antibi-otics are effective in most cases,
but prevention is the best method. Wear insect repellant containing DEET
when hunting. Wear surgeon’s gloves when skinning rabbits, and cook wild
rabbit meat thoroughly.
Diehard outdoors people who may be thinking these diseases are no big
deal—just like cases of flu—should consider this: While symptoms
associated with these diseases are not life-threatening if you’re home
or near medical help at the onset, they can be killers if you’re still
in the woods. The severe diarrhea associated with beaver fever can quickly
cause dehydration that can and does affect your ability to reach safety.
Likewise, the headaches, muscle aches, chills, fever, and chest pain that
are the symptoms of rabbit fever can have the same effect.
Hanta Virus, Plague, and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever
Of these three, hanta virus is the deadliest; it is always fatal if
untreated. Thirty-five percent of people who contract hanta virus die!
This virus is passed in the urine of the deer mouse, and becomes airborne
on dust particles. Most infections occur when people are exposed to these
pathogens while cleaning in places where deer mice have been present.
Sweeping an old cabin or shed, or shaking out an old rug or blanket can
carry the particles into the air and into your lungs. This disease is
wide- spread, with cases occurring in 30 of the 50 states. It appears to
be more common in the Western U.S. Symptoms are almost flu-like, with
fever, muscle aches and fatigue being common. There is no vaccine for this
virus.
Plague—the "Black Death" that wiped out one- third of
Europe during the middle ages—is transmitted by fleas that normally
infest rodents, such as mice, rats, squirrels, and prairie dogs. Sporadic
outbreaks of plague still occur today in the West and Southwestern United
States. Symptoms include swollen or tender lymph glands and fever that
appears within one to six days after exposure. The disease can progress to
a generalized blood infection (septicemic plague) or pneumonic plague.
People or pets (both dogs and cats) with pneumonic plague may transmit the
virus to others when coughing. Antibiotics are effective.
The last and least lethal of these three diseases is Rocky Mountain
spotted fever, transmitted by the Rocky Mountain tick, Dermacentor
andersoni, and other related ticks. Infection normally results from
being bitten by an infected tick. The disease occurs more commonly in the
East, from New York to Florida and Alabama to Texas. April through
September are the months of highest incidence, but it can occur anytime
during warm weather. Symptoms are fever, headache, rash, and nausea or
vomiting, normally occurring three to 12 days after a tick bite. Left
untreated, this disease can kill. There is no vaccine.
Why take chances with these deadly diseases? Use insect repellents with
DEET to keep fleas, ticks and other pests at bay. Another product,
Permanone (a tick repellent), is an aerosol that you apply to clothing.
If you’re going on an overnight hiking, camping or hunting trip,
carry enough water or a water purifier rated for Giardia with you.
If you get tired and have a choice of pitching a tent or staying in an old
shack, pitch the tent. Carry a bar of soap and wash your hands frequently
if water is available. Carry alcohol swabs and use them in the absence of
water. Also, waterless hand sanitizers are available. If you’re hunting,
carry disposable gloves (like surgeons or hairdressers use) for skinning,
and always cook the meat thoroughly.
If you don’t feel well after a field trip, go to your doctor and
explain, in detail, where you’ve been and what you’ve been doing. This
is particularly important for travelers. Doctors won’t be as likely to
suspect a disease that doesn’t occur as frequently in the geographic
region.
For more information on these and other diseases log on to: www.medscout.com/diseases/infectious/index.htm. |
