Suffolk County health officials have reported three probable cases of tularemia this year, a rare but serious illness also known as rabbit fever. The warning lands as tick season has been particularly bad in Suffolk County, and doctors say the disease can spread through ticks, flies and contact with infected wild rabbits.
For Tracey Detmer, the warning is not abstract. She said she pulled a tick off her 9-year-old son John’s head after he had been playing in the yard, and he went on to suffer severe head and neck pain and a 10-day fever. Detmer said he had been affected since April 28, when the illness began to take hold.
Tularemia affects only about 200 people nationwide every year, but doctors still take it seriously because it can come on fast and can be hard to miss once the signs are there. Dr. Sharon Nachman said the area of a bite can form an ulcer, and she said doctors know how to diagnose the illness and have good antibiotics to treat it.
That is why the county’s three probable cases matter now. Officials said confirmation depends on laboratory testing and specific clinical or epidemiologic criteria, and that the testing can take several weeks. The New York State Department of Health said it works with local health departments on prevention and treatment, but it also said there are no confirmed cases in New York State in 2026.
That gap leaves Suffolk County in an uneasy middle ground: health officials are warning about probable cases before the lab work is finished, while the state is still not counting any confirmed infections this year. The disease is not contagious from person to person, so the question is not whether it is spreading in households, but how many people are being exposed outdoors and through wildlife.
Nachman said the rise may be tied to a very bad tick season and asked whether winter snow may have protected tick eggs. She also said the important question is why more infections may be showing up this year than in the past. For John and families like his, the answer will not come quickly: the most likely next step is more testing, and the probable cases may eventually be confirmed or ruled out.
