Woman catches rare disease from possum attack
NSW Health has warned people not to touch wildlife following a case where a woman contracted a rare disease after being bitten and scratched by a ringtail possum in northern Sydney.
Symptoms of the disease, named tularaemia, include chills, fever, swollen lymph glands, fatigue and a sore throat.
It is treatable with antibiotics.
The disease is very rare and can only be transmitted from infected animals to humans, not human to human, the health authority said.
Australia has previously only recorded two cases in humans.
