IL1B and tularemia: Despite the uncertainties about the role of IL-1β and IL-18 during Ft infection, several groups, including ours, have shown that Ft mutants that hyper-activate the inflammasome leading to increased IL-1β and IL-18 secretion are attenuated in vivo [23] [24] [25] [26,27], suggesting that these cytokines in fact play a protective role in tularemia.