There were a few subscapular white foci on the 
liver about 1 mm. in diameter. 
The following tissues were tested for in- 
fection by maceration and injection into mice: 
right and left prescapular node, spleen, liver, 
kidney, brain, bone marrow, muscle, lung, 
heart, and mandibular lymph node. No 
infection resulted in any of the test animals. 
Discovery that tularemia infection persisted 
in lambs several months after apparent re- 
covery suggested the possibilit}^ of infected 
lambs serving as sources of infection to workers 
in packing plants where animals are sent for 
slaughter or in stockyards along the way. 
We already had available serum samples from 
51 employees in the stockyards and 71 em- 
ployees in packinghouses at Ogden and Salt 
Lake City, where many of the sheep from Idaho 
are processed. These samples were taken in 
connection with Q fever surveys by Dr. H. G. 
Stoenner in 1951. Only one sample, from an 
employee at the livestock yards in Salt Lake 
City, gave a positive test for tularemia. The 
single positive test does not suggest any unusual 
incidence of infection in the workers. 
There is also a possibility of infection sur- 
viving in the wool of sheep. In the summer of 
1951, as part of the epidemic studies on Q 
fever, the employees of several wool processing- 
plants in Portland, Oreg., were bled. These 
factories were receiving fresh wool from central 
Idaho. Twenty-six serums were tested for 
tularemia; 25 were entirely negative at 1:20 and 
higher dilutions, and 1 gave a partial agglutina- 
tion at 1:20 and 1:40 only, but it could not be 
considered diagnostic, again suggesting no 
unusual incidence of infection. 
Symptomatology 
There is probably little in the sinnptom- 
atology of tularemia in sheep, especially in 
an individual animal, to differentiate it from 
numerous other diseases of sheep. Parker and 
and Dade (4) noted the following symptoms 
in animals they examined in which infection 
was demonstrated: 
Acutely ill. 
Down and unable to rise. 
Lame for several days. 
Loss of weight and high carriage of head. 
Coughing and showed loss of weight. 
Scouring had been severe. 
Philip, Jellison, and Wilkins (5) observed 
the following in their study of an affected 
band: 
. . . slight dejection at first, stiffness in gait, desul- 
tory feeding, tendency to trail behind when band was 
moving, head held low, respiration rate noticeably 
increased, some rise in temperature, and diarrhea often 
in evidence. As the disease progressed, labored breath- 
ing was markedly evident and, in the later stages, often 
was accompanied by grunting, groaning, grinding of 
teeth; the walk became increasingly stiff, with a hunched 
spraddle-legged appearance of the hind quarters. The 
temperature in some animals was as high as 107° F. In 
the very severe cases diarrhea was usually present at 
this stage, accompanied frequently by a resultant fly- 
blown condition with quantities of maggots in evidence 
in the feces-soiled perianal region. Extreme restless- 
ness and complete prostration finally ensued in the 
more severe cases, death following in a few hours. In 
a number of instances, the removal of infesting ticks 
before prolonged prostration had occurred resulted in 
complete recovery in a few days. 
The prostrate stage of severe cases could easily be 
confused with tick paralysis. Paralyzed animals, 
however, when placed on their feet, are incapable of 
standing unaided and also show slight or no febrile 
reaction. By contrast, the Ringling sheep . . . could 
be roused to move for short distances or raised by hand 
to stand alone before lying down again; also fever was 
a marked symptom. Only one sheep of the Ringling 
band (46) showed s,ymptoms of paralysis. Whether or 
not its condition was due to tick paralysis is uncertain. 
When seen on May 8, it was alert and apparently re- 
covering although there was still a lack of coordination 
of the right legs. Its general condition and appearance 
were not indicative of an acute tularemia, but its 
serum, secured that date, agglutinated Bad. tularense 
in a dilution of 1 :640. Recovery of the other affected 
sheep was uneventful and without observed sequelae. 
A few sick sheep showed considerable mucous 
discharge from the nose but this is a very- 
common symptom in ill sheep. 
Rather similar symptoms were recorded by 
Gwatkin, Painter, and Moynihan ( 9 ) in Canada 
who state: 
The affected animals were thin and weak but there 
was no evidence of paralysis. Temperatures ranged 
from 104° to 106.4° F. They were heavily infested 
with ticks and keds. Nasal discharge was noted. 
Breathing was very rapid, and in some cases labored, 
and the pulse was rapid and weak. All had diarrhea 
and the discharge was dark and fetid. They were stiff 
in movement but were fairly active until the last stages, 
although easily exhausted. Grinding of the teeth was 
noticed in the worst case after it went off its feet. 
Flock symptoms seem more distinctive and 
reliable for a clinical diagnosis and are char- 
acterized by lagging behind of affected animals 
10 
Tularemia in Sheep and in Sheep Industry Workers in Western United States 
