CDC issues warning about 'rabbit fever' after Texas outbreak

ATLANTA - Health officials warned Tuesday that Texas prairie dogs sold as pets can carry tularemia, a rare bacterial illness also called ``rabbit fever&#39;&#39; that humans can contract from an animal scratch or bite. <br> <br> No humans have been diagnosed with the disease, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned that wild prairie dogs that came from an unidentified business in Texas have been found to carry it. <br> <br> The prairie dogs were sold as pets in Texas, Florida, Mississippi, Virginia, Ohio, Washington, Nevada and Illinois. Infected prairie dogs were also shipped to Japan, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Thailand, the Netherlands and the Czech Republic. <br> <br> The CDC said anyone who has handled a dead or sick prairie dog in the last few weeks should see a doctor for antibiotics. <br> <br> ``Rabbit fever&#39;&#39; strikes suddenly, usually bringing high fever, chills, fatigue and headache. About 100 cases are reported each year in the United States, usually less than two percent of them fatal. <br> <br> Two years ago, a tularemia outbreak in Oklahoma killed two and sickened nine more. The CDC said all were exposed to ticks or dead rabbits in that outbreak.