Francisella tularensis

Francisella tularensis
Francisella tularensis bacteria (blue) infecting a macrophage (yellow)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Proteobacteria
Class:	Gammaproteobacteria
Order:	Thiotrichales
Family:	Francisellaceae
Genus:	Francisella
Species:	F. tularensis
Binomial name
Francisella tularensis (McCoy and Chapin 1912) Dorofe'ev 1947

Francisella tularensis is a pathogenic species of Gram-negative, rod-shaped coccobacillus, an aerobe bacterium. It is non-spore forming, non-motile and the causative agent of tularemia, the pneumonic form of which is often lethal without treatment. It is a fastidious, facultative intracellular bacterium which requires cysteine for growth. Due to its low infectious dose, ease of spread by aerosol, and high virulence, F. tularensis is classified as a Tier 1 Select Agent by the U.S. government, along with other potential agents of bioterrorism such as Yersinia pestis, Bacillus anthracis and Ebola virus.

This species was discovered in ground squirrels in Tulare County, California, in 1911; Bacterium tularense was soon isolated by George Walter McCoy of the US Plague Lab in San Francisco and reported in 1912. In 1922, Dr. Edward Francis (1872–1957), a Physician and Medical Researcher from Ohio, discovered that the "Bacterium Tularense" was the causative agent for tularemia, after studying several cases of his patients having symptoms of the said disease. Later, Bacterium Tularense would become known as "Francisella Tularensis", in honor of the discovery of Dr. Francis. Four subspecies (biovars) of F. tularensis have been classified.

F. tularensis has been reported in birds, reptiles, fish, invertebrates, and mammals including humans. Despite this, no case of tularemia has been shown to be initiated by human-to-human transmission. Rather, tularemia is caused by contact with infected animals or vectors such as ticks, mosquitos, and deer flies. Reservoir hosts of importance can include lagomorphs, rodents, galliform birds, and deer.

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