Prevention

Take precautions outdoors.

When hiking, camping or working outdoors:

• Use insect repellants containing 20% to 30% DEET (N,N-diethyl-meta-toluamide ), picaridin or IR3535. For information on proper use for repellents, click here.
• Wear long pants, long sleeves, and long socks to keep tick and deer flies off your skin.
• Remove attached ticks promptly with fine-tipped tweezers.
• Don’t drink untreated surface water.

When mowing or landscaping:

• Don’t mow over sick or dead animals.
• Consider using dust masks to reduce your risk of inhaling the bacteria.

If you hunt, trap or skin animals:

• Use gloves when handling animals, especially rabbits, muskrats, prairie dogs, and other rodents.
• Cook game meat thoroughly before eating.

Until recently, a vaccine has been available to protect laboratorians routinely working with Francisella tularensis. This vaccine is currently under review by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and is not generally available in the United States.