Public health officials this week confirmed the third case of tularemia contracted on the Vineyard.

Are rabbits really to blame for last summer's outbreak of tularemia and for what could be a repeat performance this year?

Pneumonic tularemia is back. Confirming this year's first case of the pneumonic form of the disease, public health officials said yesterday they are prepared to call in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to investigate.

A four-year-old boy from Newton is this year's first confirmed case of tularemia on the Vineyard, but state and Island health officials stopped far short of sounding an alarm this week over a new outbreak of the rare bacterial infection.