Human bubonic plague transmitted by a domestic cat scratch

JAMA. 1984 Feb 17;251(7):927-8.

Abstract

Bubonic plague was transmitted to a 10-year-old girl in Oregon by a scratch wound inflicted by a domestic cat. The cat probably was infected by contact with infected wild rodents or their fleas. Yersinia pestis was identified in Diamanus montanus fleas collected from an abandoned burrow near the patient's home. Domestic cats may infect humans with Y pestis by inoculation from a scratch.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Blood / microbiology
  • Cat Diseases / microbiology*
  • Cats
  • Child
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Plague / transmission*
  • Rodentia / microbiology
  • Siphonaptera / microbiology
  • Skin / injuries
  • Wounds, Penetrating / microbiology
  • Yersinia Infections / veterinary