Definition

Noun: A highly infectious bacterial disease that primarily affects wild rodents, especially rabbits and squirrels. It can be transmitted to humans through insect bites (such as from ticks or deer flies), contact with infected animal tissues, or inhalation of contaminated dust.

Usage

This is a medical and veterinary term for a specific zoonotic disease. It is used in formal, scientific, or medical contexts. * Hunters should be aware of the symptoms of rabbit fever when handling wild game. * The outbreak of rabbit fever in the prairie dog colony prompted a public health investigation. * Symptoms of rabbit fever can include fever, skin ulcers, and swollen lymph glands.

Advanced Usage

• The term is often used in public health advisories and wildlife management communications to warn specific at-risk groups, like hunters, trappers, and laboratory workers.

Variants and Related Words

• Tularemia: This is the more formal, scientific name for the same disease. "Rabbit fever" is a common name for tularemia.
• Deer fly fever: Another common name for the same illness, emphasizing a different common vector of transmission.

Synonyms

• Tularemia (the primary synonym)
• Francisella tularensis infection (refers to the infection by the causative bacterium)

Related Phrases

• To contract rabbit fever: To become infected with the disease.
  • The farmer contracted rabbit fever while skinning an infected hare.

Noun

1. a highly infectious disease of rodents (especially rabbits and squirrels) and sometimes transmitted to humans by ticks or flies or by handling infected animals