http://www.insidebayarea.com/oakland...ews/ci_2971705

State issues warning about plague in cats Risk to felines in Bay Area is
low; alert cautions about wild rodents By Rebecca Vesely, STAFF WRITER

Letting Fluffy catch mice could be hazardous to your health.

That's what the state Department of Health Services is saying in a warning
issued Wednesday following four recent cases of plague in pet cats.

Three of the infected cats were reported in Kern County, which includes
Bakersfield, and one in Placer County, in the northern Sierra Nevada.

One of the Kern County cats recovered

while the other three were euthanized.

"People who handle or have close contact with an infected cat risk getting
plague," said Dr. Howard Backer, interim state health officer, in a
statement. "The most important step pet owners can take to protect their
cats and themselves from getting plague is to prevent their cats from
hunting wild rodents."

Plague, a highly infectious bacterial disease, is spread through
squirrels, chipmunks and other wild rodents and their fleas. Cats can get
plague from hunting and eating infected rodents.

So far this year, plague has been detected in wild animals in 11 counties,
mostly in Northern California, including Alpine, Lassen, Monterey, Placer,
Butte, Sierra and Nevada.

The risk to Bay Area cats is low, said Curtis Fritz, epidemiologist with
the state.

"For the Bay Area, it probably doesn't mean a heck of a lot," Fritz said,
noting that plague hasn't been spotted in the region for many years.

However, residents traveling to the Sierra or other areas where plague is
present shouldn't bring their cats or should make sure they stay inside,
Fritz said.

Plague is curable in early stages, so the state is urging cat owners to
take their cats to the vet - and themselves to the doctor — if they
see any symptoms.

Early symptoms of plague in cats include high fever, lethargy, swollen
lymph nodes in the neck and difficulty breathing.

In humans, early symptoms of plague include fever, chills, depression, and
swollen lymph nodes.

Catching plague from a pet cat is rare. Since 1977, there have been 23
human plague cases associated with contact with an infected cat in the
western United States — including four in California, according to the
state.

Two of the infected Californians died from plague in the 1980s — one
person in Kern County and one in El Dorado County.

Contact Rebecca Vesely at .