The recent report by Goethert, Shani, and Telford has demonstrated that strains of Francisella tularensis subsp. tularensis (type A) on the island of Martha's Vineyard are of multiple genotypes (3). In that paper, the authors stated that the mode of transmission of the two outbreaks (summer 1978 and summer 2000) of pneumonic tularemia (1, 5) from this island remain "undescribed" (3).I propose the application of Occam's razor to explain these pneumonic tularemia outbreaks. To do so requires consideration of two categories of facts. First, epidemiologic investigations have revealed that among the risk factors for the development of pneumonia tularemia was the use of lawn mowers and brush cutters (2).
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