Flea spotted fever
The flea typhus (syn. Cat flea typhus , cat flea typhus ) is a globally occurring infectious disease of humans caused by Rickettsia felis is triggered. It belongs to the rickettsioses . The transmission takes place through the cat flea , but also the human flea , the dog flea , the hedgehog flea and Anomiopsyllus nudata can transmit R. felis .
The symptoms of the disease are mild to moderate. Fever, fatigue, headache and gastrointestinal or respiratory infections occur. Occasionally, a rash or a local ulcer (inoculation ulcer ) occurs at the flea bite site . The diagnosis is made by serological evidence, whereby it should be noted that there are cross-reactions to R. typhii and R. conorii (pathogens of Boutonneuse fever ). Antibiotics such as doxycycline , fluoroquinolones and rifampicin are suitable for treatment .
It is not yet known exactly what epidemiological significance cats have. They do not get sick, it has not yet even been possible to isolate the pathogen from the blood of cats. To do this, R. felis can be isolated from the blood of infected dogs and from cat fleas. These presumably serve as reservoirs for pathogens, while cats only play a role in maintaining the cat flea population.
Individual evidence
- ^ Didier Raoult, Philippe Parola: Rickettsial Diseases . CRC Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1-42001997-1 , p. 88.
- ↑ Sebastian Suerbaum et al .: Medical microbiology and infectiology . Springer, 7th edition 2012, ISBN 978-3-642-24167-3 , p. 386.
- ^ Didier Raoult, Philippe Parola: Rickettsial Diseases . CRC Press, 2007, ISBN 978-1-42001997-1 , pp. 92-93.
- ^ Mary Thompson and Peter Irvin, Vector-borne Diseases in Cats. In: Veterinary Focus , Volume 26, Issue 2, 2016, pp. 25–31.