Can species other than humans get cat scratch disease?

Answer 1

Cat scratch fever is a bacterial infection of cats and people that is caused by a small, fragile bacteria, Bartonella henselae . There are other bartonella that occasionally cause this disease as well.

Most people develop this disease after being scratched or bitten by an infected cat. It occasionally affects dogs also.

What Are The Signs That I Might Have Cat Scratch Fever?

Most people who contract this disease, caught it from a bite or a scratch from a kitten or cat under six month of age or a stray cat. But older cats can pass this infection to humans too. The disease occurs throughout the World. The majority of cats that spread this disease to people do not look ill. Adult, indoor pet are the least likely to have this disease.

Eighty to ninety percent of the people who catch this disease are young adults, 2-24 years of age or veterinarians. Most cases occur in the fall and winter months.

People who have been scratched or bitten first develop one or more pustules (pimples) at the site of the wound. A few weeks later, the lymph nodes closest to the wound become swollen and tender. By then the wound may have completely healed and the person may have forgotten about the bite or scratch. These are usually the lymph nodes at the armpit, since most bites and scratches occur on the arms or hands. Mysteriously, patients with no known exposure to cats will occasionally develop the disease. Fever, headache and fatigue are common signs of this infection. Some people also develop tonsillitis and neck pain. It is rare for more serious signs to develop in healthy people and most people recover over the next three weeks without treatment.. when a person's health is not good or the immune system that protects the person's body is compromised, a series of much more serious signs can occur. The symptoms of this atypical bartonellosis are highly variable but can even be fatal. There are 5 tests that can detect if your cat has bartonella. They are the ELISA, PCR, IFA and Western Blot tests as well as an attempt to grow the organism from your pet's blood. However, the tests are not always accurate. Some cats just don't produce enough antibodies against bartonella for the first four tests to be positive. And we do not always grow the organism from the blood of cats that we know are infected. So repeated tests may be necessary. Diagnosis in people is not straight forward or easy. Most physicians rely on a history of exposure to a cat, typical enlarged painful lymph nodes, fever and the lack of another likely cause. Diseases such as tuberculosis, lymphoma and brucellosis need to be ruled out. A skin tests and blood tests for humans are available. Bartonella can live in infected cats for at least two years. Some authorities think that fleas can spread the disease to people but others do not.