Oregon man got plague from his cat

Key takeaways:

The case was reported on Jan. 30, 2024, marking the earliest calendar date of plague recorded in Oregon history.

The man recovered after treatment; however, his cat died.

An Oregon man contracted plague from his pet cat in January 2024, which is outside of the normal seasonality of plague, health officials reported in MMWR .

On Jan. 19, 2024, a 2-year-old pet cat was treated for a neck abscess and vomiting with oral antibiotics. On Jan. 25, the 73-year-old owner of the cat cut his finger on a kitchen knife, sought treatment at an urgent care, and returned home where he had close contact with the cat.

According to the case report, the man noticed a new ulcer on his wrist the next day and ultimately sought care at an ED on Jan. 30 for the ulcer and accompanying symptoms