Painful bacterial infection of the man related to the domestic cat

The man mentioned that he had administered medicine to his sick cat before his death.

(The New England Journal of Medicine 2018)

The rare bacterial infection of a Missouri man who left him with three extremely swollen lymph nodes on the right side of his face and neck was traced back to his cat.

The 68-year-old man, who was not named in the case report published by the New England Journal of Medicine, complained of a week-long fever. and progressive painful swelling of the lymph nodes.

While browsing the patient's story, he mentioned that his cat had died two months earlier. He stated that a veterinarian had diagnosed feline leukemia without laboratory tests and that he was responsible for administering the cat's prednisone.

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The man's doctor prescribed a series of positive tests for Francisella tularensis, leading to a diagnosis of glandular tularemia. Tularemia is a disease transmitted from the animal to the human body through skin contact with infected animals; ticks and deer bites; ingestion of contaminated water; inhalation of contaminated aerosols or agricultural dusts; or laboratory exposure. According to the case report, domestic cats can be infected by the consumption of infected prey and can transmit the bacteria to humans.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms vary depending on the route of infection and, although they may be life-threatening, most patients recover with antibiotics. The CDC has identified six main types of tularemia, the glandular being described as being similar to the ulceroglandular, without the presence of ulcers.

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The CDC known as glandular tularemia is usually acquired by the bite of a tick or an infected deer fly, or by handling a sick animal and usually causes swelling of the lymph nodes. The treatment usually lasts 10 to 21 days and most patients recover completely.

The Missouri patient was treated with doxycycline for four weeks and her symptoms disappeared.