Tularemia pneumonia in Washington, DC. A report of three cases with possible common-source exposures.

In June 1978, three cases of tularemia pneumonia occurred in persons residing in the Washington, DC, area. The patients, all men, became ill three to four days after a brief session training their hunting dogs in an undeveloped wooded area adjacent to a housing complex. One of the dogs, which later died, had captured a wild rabbit during the training session. All three men had handled the rabbit while familiarizing their dogs with the rabbit's scent. The men had no other common exposure that was a likely source of infection.