An Oregon Man Caught Bubonic Plague From His Pet Cat in 2024
A 73-year-old man in Deschutes County, central Oregon, contracted bubonic plague from his domestic cat in January 2024. It was the first human plague case in Oregon in eight years and the earliest calendar-year case ever recorded in the state.
How a Kitchen Cut Became a Medieval Disease
The man's 2-year-old cat started showing symptoms on January 19, 2024 -- vomiting and a swollen abscess on the neck. A veterinarian drained and surgically excised the abscess on January 24. The next day, January 25, the owner sliced his right index finger on a kitchen knife. He then handled his sick cat with the open wound.
By January 26, a tender, raised ulcer appeared on his right wrist.
By January 30, the infection had spread to his bloodstream. He showed up at an emergency department with septicemic plague -- the infection had jumped from a lymph node to his blood. PCR testing on February 6 confirmed Yersinia pestis, the bacterium behind the Black Death that killed roughly 50 million Europeans in the 14th century.
The Cat Died. The Man Almost Did.
The cat was prescribed antibiotics after surgery, but the owner couldn't get the animal to swallow the pills. The cat died on January 31 -- one week after surgery. CDC scientists later confirmed Yersinia pestis in the cat's tissue samples.
The man was treated with IV gentamicin and oral levofloxacin. He was discharged February 7. By his follow-up on February 15, he'd made a full recovery, reporting only mild residual fatigue.
Cats Are the Number One Source of Plague Transmission to Humans in the U.S.
This is not a one-off freak accident. According to the CDC, domestic cats are far more susceptible to plague than dogs, and far more likely to transmit it to people. Cats hunt rodents. Rodents carry fleas. Fleas carry Yersinia pestis. When a cat develops a draining abscess -- like this one did -- the bacteria are concentrated in the pus and tissue fluid. Any open wound on a handler becomes a direct entry point.
Between 1977 and 1998, at least 23 human plague cases in the western United States were linked to direct cat contact. The fatality rate for untreated plague runs between 30% and 60%. With septicemic plague, where the bacteria enter the bloodstream, untreated mortality approaches 100%.
Oregon Got Lucky. The Next Person Might Not.
Deschutes County health officials stressed the case "posed little risk to the broader community." That framing obscures the real issue: a house cat carrying a medieval pandemic pathogen sat in a residential home for days before anyone realized what was happening. The vet didn't initially test for plague. The owner didn't connect his wound to the cat's illness. The system caught it because the man got sick enough to show up at an ER.
A slightly different set of circumstances -- a younger patient who toughed it out, a rural location farther from a hospital -- and this story ends with a body bag, not a press release.
Sources:
CIDRAP: Report describes offseason plague case transmitted via cat
ABC News: Pet owner catches bubonic plague from cat in Oregon