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Summary: Background: Over the last two to three decades there has been a marked decrease in certain bacterial infections in Turkey. One of them is tuberculosis. Of note, statistics published by the Turkish Ministry of Health (MoH) show decreasing pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB), but on the other hand, increasing extrapulmonary tuberculosis (EPTB). The most common form of EPTB is tuberculous cervical lymphadenitis (TCL). The increase in the number of TCL cases despite the decline in cases of PTB is seen as a paradoxical issue. In contrast there has been an increase in the number of oropharyngeal tularemia cases in the last decade in Turkey. The aim of this study was to draw attention to the importance of differentiating between TCL and tularemia lymphadenitis, because these diseases may have a similar histopathological appearance. Methods: Thirty-two cases diagnosed as TCL were identified from the archives of a pathology laboratory (Patomer Pathology Laboratory, Bursa, Turkey). PCR tests for Francisella tularensis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis were carried out on the paraffin tissue blocks of these cases. At the same time, statistical data on PTB and EPTB for the period 1996–2010 were retrieved from the MoH and reviewed. Statistics related to tularemia, which has been diagnosed since 1988 and has been increasing in the last 10 years, were obtained from the Department of Zoonoses of the MoH. Results: Six out of 32 (19%) cases who had previously been diagnosed with ‘casseifying granulomatous lymphadenitis consistent with tuberculosis’ were found to be positive for tularemia by PCR test of the cervical lymph nodes. Conclusions: Oropharyngeal tularemia should be kept in mind in the differential diagnosis of cervical lymphadenitis in widespread geographic regions of the Northern Hemisphere, including the Asian continent. In particular, if granulomatous inflammation with necrosis is seen histopathologically, tularemia should be excluded before making the diagnosis of TCL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Several tularemia epidemics have been reported from many provinces in our country in recent years. We report the first tularemia epidemic occurring in Sivas, and some features of the cases. Methods: Twenty-nine patients admitted to the Infectious Diseases and Clinical Microbiology Clinic of Cumhuriyet University Hospital, between January 2009 and June 2010 were retrospectively investigated. Microagglutination method was used for serological diagnosis. Patients were reviewed and recorded for demographic, clinical and laboratory features. Results: 15 of the patients were male and 14 were female. The mean age was 41.8 years. The mean time between the onset of the symptoms and diagnosis was 38 days. Francisella tularensis was detected by polymerase chain reaction in lymph node aspirate from two patients. This epidemic was thought to be waterborne. In most of the cases (75.9%), the disease presented itself in the oropharyngeal form. The majority of the patients (93.1%) had cervical lymphadenopathy. Prior to diagnosis of tularemia, several antibiotic regimens ineffective for tularemia were given to 72.4% of the patients. Streptomycin and doxycycline combination was given to most of the patients (44.8%) for treatment. No mortality or sequela except for scar was observed. Conclusions: Clinicians should be careful for tularemia, even in non-endemic regions. Tularemia should be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients with tonsillopharyngitis and/or cervical lymphadenopathy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]