Cats, often considered harmless, may be more dangerous than you think. A man in the United Kingdom was bitten by a stray cat which led to an ‘unknown’ infection. According to media reports, the 48-year-old man contracted a bacterial infection that scientists have never seen before.
Reportedly, the man’s hand was swollen so terribly that he had to go to the doctor after getting bitten by multiple times. The medics cleaned his punctured wound, and gave him a tetanus shot before sending him away.
However, the man was back to the hospital the next day after his pinky and middle fingers on his left hand were enlarged and both his forearms were red and swollen. He was reportedly in extreme pain.
According to media reports, the doctors surgically removed the damaged tissue around his wounds and gave him three different antibiotics intravenously, and was sent home with oral antibiotics. Although the treatment worked this time, the doctors were confused about the cause of the aggravated condition.
The doctors examined the microorganisms from the wound samples and they were shocked to see an unrecognisable Streptococcus-like organism. According to experts, treptococcus is associated with meningitis, strep throat, bacterial pneumonia, and pink eye, among many other ailments.
Moreover, when the researchers sequenced the bacterium’s genome they found that it did not match with any strains. Reportedly, the existence of this bacterium was never documented. According to the researchers, the bacterium belongs to another genus of gram-positive bacteria called Globicatella.
“This report highlights the role of cats as reservoirs of as yet undiscovered bacterial species that have human pathogenic potential,” the authors of the case study said.
The case study was published in Emerging Infectious Diseases journal.
