The most common ways you can get tularemia are by
You can also get tularemia by
In Europe, there have been cases where the disease was caused by inhaling airborne bacteria generated during farm work, such as transporting infected hay. A small number (about 10 to 50 bacteria) can cause disease.
Laboratory workers also can become infected by inhaling bacteria while examining an open culture plate, for example.
There is no evidence you can get the disease from another person.
If the bacteria were to be used as a weapon, they would likely be made airborne for human exposure by inhaling them. Making an effective aerosol weapon using F. tularensis, however, would require considerable sophistication.
Last Updated June 14, 2007