Florida man diagnosed with rare case of ‘rabbit fever’… as insect-borne illnesses surge across the state

By EMILY JOSHU STERNE, US ASSISTANT HEALTH EDITOR

Published: 00:03 EDT, 13 October 2026 | Updated: 00:06 EDT, 13 October 2026

Florida has recorded its fifth case in a decade of a rare tick-borne disease that kills up to one in 10 patients, amid warning signs that the illness could be spreading in the US.

Writing in a medical journal, doctors said that an unidentified 36-year-old man had been diagnosed with tularemia, a disease caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis that can cause pneumonia and sepsis. It is also known as ‘rabbit fever’ because the bacterium is often detected in rabbits.

Doctors said that the patient was diagnosed with the disease after coming to the emergency room about four times in eight months.

The patient initially struggled with fevers, night sweats, shivering and tiredness for six months, before also developing severe fatigue leaving him unable to get out of bed and intermittent nosebleeds and blood in his urine.

At first, doctors could not detect the cause of the disease, but when the man said he had hunted for deer and wild turkeys, tests were ordered for tick-borne diseases.

About 200 cases of tularemia are recorded nationwide every year, almost all in the South-Central region, including Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

But recently, concerns have been raised that the disease may be spreading and becoming more common after three probable cases were recorded in New York this year and now a new case in Florida.

Warmer weather and longer summers are allowing ticks to spread to new areas nationwide. Other tick-borne diseases are also spreading in the US, including Lyme disease, which causes a characteristic ‘bullseye’ mark at the site of the tick bite.

Tick bites are the most common way tularemia spreads. With cases on the rise, experts urge extra caution during peak season

Writing in the medical journal the American Journal of Case Reports, the doctors – at the Mayo Clinic’s center in Florida – said: ‘With climate patterns changing, to which insect vectors are particularly sensitive, re-emergence of otherwise rare infectious disease pathogens can be seen and should be explored in otherwise difficult-to-diagnose cases.’

The 36-year-old man first came to an emergency unit after six months of suffering from fevers, night sweats, shivering and tiredness. He had also mysteriously lost 30lbs without dieting or exercising.

He was initially turned away after doctors failed to diagnose a condition, but a few weeks later he returned after developing severe fatigue that led him to miss work twice a week.

He was referred for further tests, but refused. Three weeks later, however, he was back again after developing a 103F fever, body aches, headaches, shortness of breath, sleeping all day and trouble waking up.

After an array of tests came back negative, the patient revealed he had recently hunted deer and wild turkey and eaten their meat.

This led doctors to suspect a potential foodborne illness, because he had eaten wild meat, and also a tick-borne illness, due to the time spent hunting outdoors.

A battery of tests were ordered, which revealed he had tularemia.

Humans can be infected with tularemia from a tick bite, but can also catch the disease by eating undercooked meat from infected animals. The bacteria normally only infects rabbits, hares and rodents.

Upon questioning, the man then said he had suffered a tick bite about two to three months ago. He said the meat was fully cooked when he ate it.

He had not recently traveled outside the US but said he had visited Tennessee, where tularemia is also present.

His case marked the fifth in Florida in a decade and ninth in the state since 2005, the earliest date with data available.

The above map shows cases of tularemia reported in each state in 2023

Nationwide cases have rebounded since the 1990s, with 2023 reporting 196 cases – a 56 percent increase over the previous decade

Tularemia is caused by the bacterium Francisella tularensis.

Often, it infects people from tick and deer fly bites. It can also be spread by eating infected rabbits, hares or rodents, handling infected dead animals, drinking contaminated water or breathing in dust laced with the bacteria.

Tularemia is treated with antibiotics if caught early. However, most people do not realize they have been exposed until symptoms appear.

Cases typically spike from May through September, peaking in June. But there are signs that it is becoming more common.

In 2023, there were 196 reported cases in the US, a 56 percent increase compared to a decade ago.

First-line treatments now include ciprofloxacin, doxycycline, gentamicin and levofloxacin.

However, without treatment, tularemia is fatal in about 10 percent of cases. But with prompt antibiotics, that drops to less than one percent.

Still, recovery can take weeks or even months.

Symptoms usually appear three to five days after exposure and come on suddenly.

They can include high fever, chills, severe headache, muscle aches, joint stiffness and a skin sore or ulcer at the bite site. Swollen lymph nodes are also common.

In more severe cases, the infection can spread to the lungs, causing pneumonia and shortness of breath.

The man in Florida was given 750mg daily of the antibiotic levofloxacin for two weeks. His fevers stopped after about one week on the medication, and one month after treatment, he reported improvements in his appetite.

He continued suffering from a lack of energy but did not have any additional episodes of extreme fatigue and was able to return to his regular activities. His doctors wrote that his symptoms should gradually improve over time.