Human bubonic plague transmitted by a domestic cat scratch
B. G. Weniger, A. J. Warren, V. Forseth, G. W. Shipps, T. Creelman, J. Gorton and A. M. Barnes
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.
