Unusual patient case Man grew plague bumps due to germs of his own domestic cat

Bacteria make pestilent bumps grow in the cat owner

A 68-year-old man took care of his sick cat. The animal species diagnosed feline leukemia without assuring it by laboratory tests. The veterinarian gave the man the drug prednisone to treat his cat, that he administered himself to his pet at home. A short time later, the cat died. Two days later began to grow in the 68-year-old bubonic pains on the right side of the neck, with which he went to the hospital. The doctors diagnosed that his cat had infected him with tularemia.

Plagued by fever and huge painful pustular swellings on the neck, the 68-year-old American from Missouri introduced herself at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. The doctors found in a blood test bacteria of the type Francisella tularensis. These can trigger the zoonotic tularemia. Zoonoses are diseases that can spread from animals to humans. The case was recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

A 68-year-old American came to the hospital with pustule-like swelling. His cat had died shortly before and had infected him with life-threatening tularemia pathogens. (Picture: The New England Journal of Medicine)

Infected by your own domestic cat

Apparently, the deceased cat had captured the bacteria and transferred this to their master. "Domestic cats can become infected by consuming contaminated prey and transfer the bacteria to humans," the physicians write in the description of the disease. The patient was treated with the antibiotic doxycycline for four weeks, after which the symptoms improved.

What is tularemia?

According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), tularemia is an infectious disease caused by very resistant bacteria of the Francisella tularensis type. The subspecies, which are widespread in North America, can provoke very severe illnesses, which are fatal in around 60 percent of the cases. The germs spread in Europe are a little less dangerous, but can also cause serious illnesses. According to the RKI, the North American pathogens belong to the risk group 3 and are even classified as a potential bioweapon pathogen.

What are the symptoms of tularemia??

As the RKI reports, the symptoms of tularemia are nonspecific. Often, flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, body aches, swollen lymph nodes, chills and general malaise occur. Furthermore, there are deviations in the clinical picture, which depend on the way in which the germs have entered the body. The current case was a glandular (skin contact) tularemia. This form is characterized by severe local lymph node swelling, which may include suppuration and necrosis.

How common is tularemia??

Between 100 and 200 tularaemia cases are registered each year in the USA. "In Germany, between 20 and 30 cases of this according to IfSG notifiable disease were transmitted annually to the RKI in Germany", RKI experts report in a guide to the disease. However, it is likely that the actual case numbers are much higher.

Where do the pathogens come from??

The RKI experts report that the tularemia pathogen can spread to many different hosts. These include, for example, small mammals such as rabbits, rabbits or mice, but also wild and domestic animals such as cats can take the pathogen. Furthermore, the bacteria can be found in blood-sucking insects such as brakes, mosquitoes and ticks.

How to become infected with tularemia?

"Francisella tularensis is a highly infectious agent," write the RKI doctors. Already ten pathogens can trigger a tularemia disease. The disease can be transmitted from animals to humans. However, a human-to-human transmission is unknown. In the following ways one can become infected with tularemia:

• Skin or mucous membrane contact with infected animals or their excretions,
• Consumption of contaminated meat that has not been heated enough,
• Drinking contaminated water,
• Inhalation of contaminated dust (for example when mowing the lawn or when haymaking),
• Stings and bites of contaminated blood-sucking insects.

(Vb)