Pasteurella

[Kiki's Mom]

Please post what you know.

[ChilliBean]

This is for rabbits but I think it applies. Seems that they can be carriers and also get it.

pasteurella (http://www.rabbit.org/chapters/san-diego/health/vet-talk/pasteurella.html)


eMedicine (http://www.emedicine.com/med/topic1764.htm)


edited: The emed link is more helpful. It is mostly through bite or scratch but sometimes through no contact.

30% of cat bites and 5% of dog bites become infected. This is not just in cats, but cats, dogs, rabbits and several other mammals.

[HedgeMom]

Wow. ALL that I know about Pasteurella????? Do we have that much bandwidth? LOL

Pasteurella spp is a gram-negative bacteria that lives in the respiratory tracts and mucous membranes of many animals. Cows, dogs, cats, humans can all have pasteurella spp in their saliva and not show any disease from it.

Where it becomes a problem is when it is transmitted to a very young, very old or otherwise immuno-suppressed individual. Then it can kill.

My vet was bitten by a cat and he died of pasteurella infection. He had no spleen from an accident as a child and couldn't fight the disease off. It manifested as a respiratory illness.

You do not need to be bitten to have pasteurella transmitted. It's resident in saliva and can spread by contact. As an example, if you have a rabbit that carries pasteurella and he grooms your chinchilla, your chinchilla could contract it. If they eat out of the same bowl, they can spread the bacteria. Sneezing spreads it.

This is very important to know if you keep rabbits and cats (the primary carriers) with susceptible animals such as guinea pigs, chinchillas and other small rodents as well as birds. Many birds have died from contact with a cat, yet there was no injury. This is something that is very difficult to treat and requires weeks of antibiotics. Stress can contribute to the cause of the disease.

Simple precautions such as not allowing inter-species assocation and cleaning any common use areas, isolating any potential carriers from even incidental contact with vulnerable individuals and practicing good husbandry will prevent this from having an impact on your animals or on you. Pasteurella can cause illness in very young children, too.

[WRXBLUE04]

You do not need to be bitten to have pasteurella transmitted. It's resident in saliva and can spread by contact.
contribute to the cause of the disease.


So no contact = safe?

[HedgeMom]

So no contact = safe?

Not necessarily. It can be spread by aerosol via sneezing (since it's resident in mucous membranes) and by indirect contact with common surfaces. An example would be allowing a guinea pig to run loose in an area where a cat frequently grooms himself.

I personally would err on the side of caution rather than risk illness or death in a beloved pet.