Your veterinarian will recommend an antibiotic as standard treatment. The duration of infectivity in treated cats is not known with certainty, but cats are thought to be noninfectious after 72 hours of appropriate antibiotic treatment if there are indications of improvement.
How do you treat pneumonic plague in cats?
At first, the treatments will be given through injection, but after three days of close monitoring in hospital, if the cat is responding favorably, an oral antibiotic will be prescribed and the cat will be sent home. After 72 hours of antibiotics, even pneumonic plague is considered to no longer be contagious.
What is the survival rate for cats infected with plague?
The survival rate with treatment for cats infected with plague is only 50 percent. The best way to prevent infection is by regularly treating your cat for fleas. It is important to eliminate any rodent habitats and keep them out of your home. Keeping your cat indoors can also greatly reduce its exposure to Y. pestis.
What is the plague in cats?
It is called pneumonic plague, and it spreads through infectious respiratory droplets. Plague occurs all over the world, but in the United States it typically is seen only in the southwest. Infected cats do cause a risk to both owners and veterinary staff.
Can a cat recover from pneumonia?
As well as frequent physical rechecks, repeated radiographs may be taken to monitor the changes on chest x-rays. Around 90% of cats make a full recovery from pneumonia, but the outcome depends on the type of pneumonia and the overall underlying health of the patient. Pneumonia is a serious lung disease that can affect cats.
Can pneumonic plague be treated?
Without early treatment, patients may die. Early treatment of pneumonic plague is essential. To reduce the chance of death, antibiotics must be given within 24 hours of first symptoms. Streptomycin, gentamicin, the tetracyclines, and chloramphenicol are all effective against pneumonic plague.
How do you treat a cat with plague?
At first, the treatments will be given through injection, but after three days of close monitoring in hospital, if the cat is responding favorably, an oral antibiotic will be prescribed and the cat will be sent home. After 72 hours of antibiotics, even pneumonic plague is considered to no longer be contagious.
How can you cure the plague without antibiotics?
pestis strains have led to the exploration of alternatives to antibiotics. Several investigators have looked into the use of alternatives, such as immunotherapy, non-pathogen-specific immunomodulatory therapy, phage therapy, bacteriocin therapy, and treatment with inhibitors of virulence factors.
Can pneumonic plague be treated with antibiotics?
Can pneumonic plague be treated? Yes. To prevent a high risk of death, antibiotics should be given within 24 hours of the first symptoms. Several types of antibiotics are effective for curing the disease and for preventing it.
Can indoor cats get the plague?
Cats are highly susceptible to plague and are a common source of Yersinia pestis infection in humans (owners and veterinarians). Dogs infected with plague are less likely to develop clinical illness than cats. Most cases of plague in cats present with a sub-mandibular lymphadenitis.
How do cats get pneumonic plague?
Cats are usually exposed to the bacteria by oral contact with secretions or tissue of an infected rodent or rabbit (for example, eating an infected animal) or by the bite an infected flea. Cats that roam or hunt in areas where the bacteria is present have an increased risk of developing plague.
How do you treat plague naturally?
Got the plague? 10 ways to cure it (or at least try)Good smells. People believed that the disease was airborne and they could somehow ward it off if they carried sweet smelling perfumes or flowers with them. ... Bad smells. ... Avoiding Baths. ... Lancing the Buboes. ... Bleeding. ... Scourging. ... Theriac. ... Drinking mercury and arsenic.More items...•
What can I use to remove the plague?
The bubonic plague can be treated and cured with antibiotics. If you are diagnosed with bubonic plague, you'll be hospitalized and given antibiotics. In some cases, you may be put into an isolation unit.
How do you prevent pneumonic plague?
If you believe you have been intentionally exposed to pneumonic plague, you should contact law enforcement officials immediately. There is no vaccine against pneumonic plague. Antibiotics are used to prevent illness in those who have been exposed to pneumonic plague.
What is the incubation period for pneumonic plague?
Incubation can be as short as 24 hours. Any person with pneumonic plague may transmit the disease via droplets to other humans. Untreated pneumonic plague, if not diagnosed and treated early, can be fatal. However, recovery rates are high if detected and treated in time (within 24 hours of onset of symptoms).
What antibiotics cure plague?
Antibiotics such as streptomycin, gentamicin, doxycycline, or ciprofloxacin are used to treat plague. Oxygen, intravenous fluids, and respiratory support are usually also needed.
How effective are plague antibiotics?
Even when antibiotics known to be effective are given, patients who develop the bubonic form of plague are most likely to survive: after treatment with antibiotics, around 10% of patients with bubonic plague and 30% to 50% of patients with pneumonic or septicemic plague will nevertheless die [22,23,45,47].
What can cause pneumonia in cats?
Pneumonia in cats can be caused by viruses, bacteria, fungal organisms, protozoa and parasites, as well as smoke or the inhalation of foreign mater...
How do I know if my cat has pneumonia?
The main sign, as listed above, are dullness, inappetence and reduced activity, as well as coughing, difficulty breathing, rapid breathing, nasal d...
Can a cat survive pneumonia?
Around 90% of cats recover from pneumonia when comprehensive treatment is given, but this is a serious disease, and without treatment, the mortalit...
Is cat pneumonia contagious to other cats?
The infectiousness of pneumonia in cats depends on the primary cause e.g. cat viruses are highly contagious, while if the cause is inhalation of fo...
How serious is pneumonia in cats?
This is a very serious and life threatening disease, requiring urgent and comprehensive veterinary treatment.
What are the symptoms of a cat with a septic system?
Ulcers in the mouth, skin abscesses (pockets of pus and infection), discharge from the eyes, diarrhea, vomiting, and diffuse spreading inflammation of tissues beneath the skin have also been documented. High fever may be present. Cats with primary septicemic plague have no obvious disease of the lymph nodes but have fever, lethargy, and poor appetite. Septic signs may also include diarrhea, vomiting, excessively rapid heart rate, weak pulse, and breathing distress. Primary pneumonic plague has not been documented in cats. Cats with secondary pneumonic plague may have all the signs of septicemic plague along with a cough and other abnormal lung sounds.
How did the plague happen?
Plague is a sudden and sometimes fatal bacterial disease caused by Yersinia pestis. It is transmitted primarily by the fleas of rats and other rodents. This is the disease, often called the Black Death, that swept through Asia and then Europe in the 14th century. Over 25 million people (one third of the population) died of this disease in Europe between 1347 and 1352. Devastating outbreaks of this disease recurred with regularity throughout the next 200 years.
Can you get antibiotics for a suspected plague?
Due to the rapid progression of this disease, treatment for suspected plague (and infection control practices) should be started before a definitive diagnosis is obtained. Your veterinarian will recommend an antibiotic as standard treatment.
What equipment do you need to treat a plague cat?
Masks and gloves should be worn when examining and treating cats suspected of having plague. Veterinarians should use appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) before beginning a necropsy on a plague-suspect animal. PPE should include gloves, an N95 respirator or the equivalent, and protective eye equipment.
What is the risk of plague in veterinary care?
Veterinary staff is at risk of plague if there is contact with infectious exudates, respiratory droplets, oral secretions, tissues or fleas. Any material used in examination of plague-suspect cats should be disinfected, autoclaved, or incinerated.
How to identify Y pestis?
Y. pestis may be identified microscopically by examination of Gram, Wright, Giemsa, or Wayson’s stained smears of peripheral blood, sputum, or lymph node specimen. Visualization of bipolar-staining, ovoid, Gram-negative organisms with a “safety pin” appearance permits a rapid presumptive diagnosis of plague.
Can you send a pretreatment sample for diagnostic testing?
Tissue samples should be placed in a clean container and chilled (not frozen). Contact local or state health officials to determine the best place to send samples for diagnostic testing.
Can cats get plague?
Cats are highly susceptible to plague and are a common source of Yersinia pestis infection in humans (owners and veterinarians). Dogs infected with plague are less likely to develop clinical illness than cats. Most cases of plague in cats present with a sub-mandibular lymphadenitis.
What to check for if my cat has a plague?
A thorough physical examination will be undertaken to check for swelling around the neck and head, liver and kidneys, and to check for signs of dehydration, fever, lung infection, or anything else that will conclusively pinpoint the plague as a cause for your cat’s illness.
What happens if a cat gets the plague?
Cats infected with plague will experience fever, inflammation, and excessive pain due to the lymph nodes being chronically swollen.
How does Yersinia get into cats?
The Yersinia bacterium is transmitted to cats when an infected flea bites them, or when they ingest an infected rodent. It is more common for a cat to become infected after eating a rodent than it is for the cat to acquire this disease through a fleabite.
What are the symptoms of the plague in cats?
Symptoms associated with bubonic plague in cats will include painfully swollen lymph nodes, fever, inflammation, depression, vomiting, dehydration, diarrhea, enlarged tonsils, and anorexia. The head and neck area will swell considerably, and should the cat survive, its lymph nodes may abscess and then rupture and drain. Other symptoms include discharge from the eyes, mouth ulcers, and a loss of appetite, with visible weight loss being evident. Coma may follow.
How long does it take for a cat to get a coma after being bit?
Coma may follow. The normal incubation period for bubonic plague is between two and seven days after the cat has been bitten. In the case of pneumonic plague, a lung infection will occur; and with septicemic plague, which is rare in cats, the same symptoms as bubonic plague will appear, along with systemic infection of the blood.
What tests are done on a cat for plague?
Your veterinarian will run a full diagnostic evaluation on the cat, including blood samples, culture samples of fluids, and kidney and liver testing , in order to establish a definitive diagnosis of this disease. A swollen lymphatic system is a clear indication that infection is present and blood tests will show the level of white blood cells present, amongst other things, further aiding in identifying the presence of plague bacteria.
What is the plague in cats?
Yersinia pestis in Cats. The parasitic genus Yersinia pestis causes the bacterial disease referred to as plague. This condition occurs worldwide. In the United States, it is predominantly found in the southwest between the months of May and October. Carriers of this disease include rats, squirrels and mice; the disease is typically transmitted ...
How many cats recover from pneumonia?
Around 90% of cats recover from pneumonia when comprehensive treatment is given, but this is a serious disease, and without treatment, the mortality rate is very high.
What is pneumonia in cats?
Pneumonia is a serious lung disease that can affect cats. Careful attention to a cat’s overall health, including regular vaccination of cats to protect against viral causes, is important to help to prevent the disease, and prompt veterinary care is important if a cat does develop pneumonia.
How do you know if your cat is sick?
While this is often the case, 20 – 60% of cats do not show signs of their breathing being affected, simply presenting as “sick cats”. Typical signs of pneumonia include fever, dullness, inappetence, weight loss and unwillingness to move around. Other common signs include coughing, dyspnea (difficulty breathing), tachypnea (rapid breathing), ...
How to tell if a cat has pneumonia?
Your vet will also carry out auscultation of your cat’s chest (listening with a stethoscope) checking for increased lung sounds, such as wheezes, crackles and hisses. In some cases, the normal sounds of breathing may be reduced due to consolidation of the lung tissue caused by the accumulation of inflammatory debris and fluid. Your vet will also assess your cat’s heart rate and sounds. Other complications (such as any skin lesions) will also be assessed carefully.
Why is pneumonia more common in cats?
Pneumonia is more likely to develop and progress if a cat’s natural immune system is unable to effectively ward off either the primary cause (such as a virus or the substance causing aspiration pneumonia) or the secondary bacterial pneumonia complications. This is why the disease is more common in senior cats, and small animals such as kittens.
Why does my cat have pneumonia?
Causes Of Pneumonia In Cats. The most common causes are viral infections, bacterial infections (such as bordetella), fungal infections (mycotic pneumonia), protozoa, and parasites. Inhalation of smoke, or aspiration of food or fluid (e.g. liquid medications), can also lead to pneumonia. Common respiratory infections include feline calicivirus ...
What is the best way to help a cat breathe?
Oxygen therapy (via an oxygen cage, tent, or mask) is often given to help cats breathe more comfortably. Nebulisation may be used to allow the direct penetration of medication such as antibiotics to the affected airways including the trachea and bronchi, as well as the alveoli.
What to do if a cat has a plague?
Due to the serious public health risk, the veterinarian must take infection control measures which include a mask, eye protection and gloves at all times. A cat with suspected plague will be placed in isolation. Bacterial culture of discharge submitted to a public health laboratory can confirm the diagnosis.
How does the Bubonic and Septicemic Plague spread?
Transmission of bubonic and septicemic plague is via the bite of a flea that has ingested the organism from an infected vector. This is by far the most common mode of transmission.
What is a plague?
Plague is a bacterial zoonosis caused by infection with Yersinia pestis , a gram-negative coccobacillus. Active foci exist in wild rodent and flea populations in many regions of the world, including the western US (where the disease probably was first introduced in 1899–1900 by rat- and flea-infested ships) [ 1–3 ]. To date, surveillance programs have identified evidence of Y. pestis infection in mammal or flea samples collected from 17 western states (K.L.G., Plague Section, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], unpublished data). A total of 297 human cases of plague were identified in 13 of these states from 1977 through 1998.
Is plague enzootic?
Physicians in areas in the West where plague is enzootic should be informed of the risks of cat-associated human plague and consider plague as a possible diagnosis for persons who have handled sick or dead cats and present with fever and chills, myalgias, arthralgias, headache, or prostration. The presence of inguinal, femoral, axillary, or cervical lymphadenopathy should further increase the suspicion of plague, as should the identification of septicemia or pneumonia. Persons who acquire plague as a result of handling infected cats are most likely to develop axillary or cervical lymphadenopathy ( table 1 ), while those infected through flea bites typically develop inguinal or femoral lymphadenopathy.
What is the treatment for pneumonic plague?
It is recommended that those infected be isolated from others. Treatment of pneumonic plague is with antibiotics. Plague is present among rodents in Africa, the Americas, and Asia. Pneumonic plague is more serious and less common than bubonic plague.
How long does it take to cure pneumonic plague?
Pneumonic plague is a very aggressive infection requiring early treatment. Antibiotics must be given within 24 hours of first symptoms to reduce the risk of death. Streptomycin, gentamicin, tetracyclines and chloramphenicol are all able to kill the causative bacterium.
How did the pneumonic plague spread?
Pneumonic plague can be caused in two ways: primary, which results from the inhalation of aerosolised plague bacteria, or secondary, when septicemic plague spreads into lung tissue from the bloodstream. Pneumonic plague is not exclusively vector-borne like bubonic plague; instead, it can be spread from person to person. There have been cases of pneumonic plague resulting from the dissection or handling of contaminated animal tissue. This is one of the types of plague formerly known as the Black Death.
What is the difference between pneumonic and bubonic plague?
The difference between the forms of plague is the location of infection; in pneumonic plague the infection is in the lungs, in bubonic plague the lymph nodes, and in septicemic plague within the blood.
What is the Pneumonic Plague?
Pneumonic plague is a severe lung infection caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Symptoms include fever, headache, shortness of breath, chest pain, and coughing. They typically start about three to seven days after exposure. It is one of three forms of plague, the other two being septicemic plague and bubonic plague.
How many deaths from the plague in 2013?
The total reported number of cases of all types of plague in 2013 was 783. Left untreated, pneumonic plague is nearly always fatal. Some hypothesize that the pneumonic version of the plague was mainly responsible for the Black Death that resulted in approximately 50 million deaths in the 1300s.
How many deaths were there in 2017 from the plague?
At least 74 deaths have been ascribed to pneumonic plague. The outbreak officially ended on 26 November 2017 with 2,348 cases and 202 deaths officially reported.
Background
Diagnostic Testing
- Y. pestismay be identified microscopically by examination of Gram, Wright, Giemsa, or Wayson’s stained smears of peripheral blood, sputum, or lymph node specimen. Visualization of bipolar-staining,...
- Appropriate biologic samples for diagnostic testing include: lymph node aspirate, lymph node, liver, spleen, lung, bone marrow, and whole blood.
- Y. pestismay be identified microscopically by examination of Gram, Wright, Giemsa, or Wayson’s stained smears of peripheral blood, sputum, or lymph node specimen. Visualization of bipolar-staining,...
- Appropriate biologic samples for diagnostic testing include: lymph node aspirate, lymph node, liver, spleen, lung, bone marrow, and whole blood.
- Antibiotic therapy should be started promptly, but pre-treatment samples are ideal for diagnostic testing.
- Tissue samples should be placed in a clean container and chilled (not frozen).
Avoiding Occupational Risks
- Veterinary staff is at risk of plague if there is contact with infectious exudates, respiratory droplets, oral secretions, tissues or fleas.
- Any material used in examination of plague-suspect cats should be disinfected, autoclaved, or incinerated.
- Masks and gloves should be worn when examining and treating cats suspected of having pla…
- Veterinary staff is at risk of plague if there is contact with infectious exudates, respiratory droplets, oral secretions, tissues or fleas.
- Any material used in examination of plague-suspect cats should be disinfected, autoclaved, or incinerated.
- Masks and gloves should be worn when examining and treating cats suspected of having plague.
- Veterinarians should use appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) before beginning a necropsy on a plague-suspect animal. PPE should include gloves, an N95 respirator or the equivalent, and...
Prevention and Control
- It is important that public health officials be notified promptly when plague is suspected in a cat. 1. Public health officials will assist with follow-up investigations and implementation of preventive measures at sites where cats might have been exposed to minimize future risk. 2. Follow-up will help identify persons who might have been exposed to the infected animal so that appropriate p…
Symptoms and Types
- There are three forms of plague: bubonic plague, pneumonic plague, and septicemic plague. Symptoms associated with bubonic plague in cats will include painfully swollen lymph nodes, fever, inflammation, depression, vomiting, dehydration, diarrhea, enlarged tonsils, and anorexia. The head and neck area will swell considerably, and should the cat survive, its lymph nodes may …
Causes
- The Yersinia bacterium is transmitted to cats when an infected flea bites them, or when they ingest an infected rodent. It is more common for a cat to become infected after eating a rodent than it is for the cat to acquire this disease through a fleabite. Another possible cause for exposure could come from the animal’s environment. If the home is heavily infested with fleas, o…
Diagnosis
- Your veterinarian will run a full diagnostic evaluation on the cat, including blood samples, culture samples of fluids, and kidney and liver testing, in order to establish a definitive diagnosis of this disease. A swollen lymphatic system is a clear indication that infection is present and blood tests will show the level of white blood cells present, amongst other things, further aiding in identifyin…
Treatment
- Your cat will require hospitalization to treat the more severe symptoms of plague, and will be given a full course of antibiotics. Cats that are weakened and dehydrated, will require an intravenous drip to assist in rehydration. Flea treatment will also be required. The incidence of mortality is high for cats that are not treated early and effectiv...
Living and Management
- Ongoing flea control and management of rodents is a must. There is no home management plan for this disease, and all cases of suspected infection should be reported to your veterinarian immediately. However, maintaining a flea-free home and keeping rubbish, food, and woodpiles to a minimum will help greatly in reducing the risk of plague infection. Additionally, cats should be …