According to reports, Doctors from Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States (U.S) conducted a large-scale survey of the cat-borne bacterial disease-cat scratch fever. Cat scratch fever, also called cat scratch disease (CSD), is a bacterial infection.
The disease got its name because people contract it from cats infected with ‘Bartonella henselae’ bacteria, one of the most common bacteria in the world. The researchers found the scope and impact of the potentially deadly disease was larger than they thought. The disease causes fever, pustules and in extreme cases, the complications from the illness can cause death.
You can get cat scratch fever from a bite or scratch from an infected cat. You can also get the disease if saliva from an infected cat gets into an open wound on your body or touches the whites of your eyes. Similarly, anyone who owns a cat or interacts with a cat is at risk of contracting cat scratch fever. You have an increased risk of becoming seriously ill from cat scratch fever if you have a weakened immune system as well.
Going by the findings of the study, the doctors have warned that hands should always be washed after touching cats, and to avoid kissing a cat or other members of the cat family where possible. Furthermore, they also advised cat owners to ensure that their pet is protected from fleas. Reacting to the study, Dr. Christina Nelson of the CDC said: “The scope and impact of the disease is a little bit larger than we thought.
Cat-scratch is preventable. If we can identify the populations at risk and the patterns of disease, we can focus on the prevention efforts.” Kittens and strays are more likely to carry the disease. The disease is spread when you are scratched by an infected cat, or when you don’t wash your hands and touch your mouth after stroking an infected cat.
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