Consensus statement ularemia, a bacterial zoono

©2001 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.

(Reprinted) JAMA, June 6, 2001—Vol 285, No. 21 2771

remia from infected animals or arthro- pod bites is considered minimal and could be reduced by educating the pub- lic on simple avoidance of sick or dead animals and on personal protective measures against biting arthropods.

ADDITIONAL RESEARCH

Simple, rapid, and reliable diagnostic tests that could be used to identify per- sons infected with F tularensis in the mass exposure setting need to be de- veloped. Further methods should be de- signed to rapidly define the molecular genetic characteristics of organisms, es- pecially as they may relate to engi- neered attributes, such as enhanced virulence and resistance to antimicro- bial agents or normally lethal environ- mental conditions. Complete sequenc- ing and analysis of the genome of natural strains of F tularensis would pro- vide an archival base for understand- ing genetic variants, functions of genes, and mechanisms of action useful in de- veloping means to protect against F tu- larensis. Research is also needed to de- velop accurate and reliable procedures to rapidly detect F tularensis in envi- ronmental samples.

New technologies should be ex-

plored for developing active (eg, DNA- based) or passive (eg, monoclonal an- tibody–based) vaccines for rapid preexposure or postexposure protec- tion.