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Livermore researchers decode genome of rabbit fever pathogen

Researchers at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory have decoded the genetic blueprint of the rabbit fever bacterium, a highly infectious human and animal pathogen. Knowing the microbe's genome sequence could help researchers develop more effective vaccines and better methods for detecting, diagnosing and treating tularemia.

Tularemia is a rare but serious disease normally spread by insect bites and human contact with rabbits, prairie dogs, and other small and medium-sized animals. While seldom fatal, and treatable with antibiotics, the disease causes severe, long-lasting pneumonia-like symptoms and a variety of glandular and intestinal disorders. As few as 10 organisms entering the body can cause fever, making tularemia one of the most infectious of all human diseases.

Livermore scientists collaborated on the work with researchers at Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden; Porton Down, United Kingdom; the Swedish Defense Agency, Umea, Sweden; the Center for Disease Control's Division of Vector-Borne Infectious Diseases, Fort Collins, Colo.; and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Silver Spring, Md.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory is operated by the University of California.

For more information, read the Livermore news release.

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