{"id":613820,"date":"2024-06-13T13:06:47","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T17:06:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/diphtheria-like-germ-can-be-passed-between-people-and-pets-drugs-com-mednews\/"},"modified":"2024-06-13T21:17:41","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T01:17:41","slug":"diphtheria-like-germ-can-be-passed-between-people-and-pets-drugs-com-mednews","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/platohealth.ai\/diphtheria-like-germ-can-be-passed-between-people-and-pets-drugs-com-mednews\/","title":{"rendered":"Diphtheria-Like Germ Can Be Passed Between People and Pets – Drugs.com MedNews","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"

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Medically reviewed by Carmen Pope, BPharm<\/a>. Last updated on June 13, 2024.<\/span><\/p>\n

By Ernie Mundell HealthDay Reporter<\/p>\n

THURSDAY, June 13, 2024 — The first two cases of a diphtheria<\/a>-like illness being transmitted in the United States between people and their pets have been reported in Utah and Colorado.<\/p>\n

The respiratory illnesses occurred in 2022 and 2023 and involved the Corynebacterium ulceran <\/em>bacterium, which is closely related to the germ that causes diptheria. One recent Japanese study<\/a> noted that C. ulceran “<\/em>is widely distributed in the environment and is considered one of the most harmful pathogens to livestock and wildlife.”<\/p>\n

Passage between pets and humans is much rarer, however.<\/p>\n

The first such case documented in the United States occurred in 2022 in a person in Utah who lived with a spouse, another housemate, three cats, and one dog.<\/p>\n

The patient had diabetes and developed a leg wound that would not heal. Lab testing showed that the wound was colonized by C. ulceran, <\/em>and further tests revealed that the person’s spouse and two of the homes’ three cats also carried the bacterium.<\/p>\n

Everyone in the household — pets and humans alike — received antibiotic<\/a> therapy and the infections gradually cleared.<\/p>\n

The second case, which occurred last year, involved “a Colorado resident experiencing non-resolving upper respiratory symptoms,” according to the research team, which was led by Amanda Metz of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.<\/p>\n

The patient lived with a spouse and two dogs, and also had a visitor for two nights who brought their dog. Everyone was asymptomatic for illness except the patient, but testing revealed C. ulceran <\/em>infection in the patient and the visitor’s dog. Everyone in the household was treated with the antibiotic erythromycin<\/a> and the patient recovered.<\/p>\n

Metz’ team believes that doctors now have to be on the lookout for C. ulceran, <\/em>which has symptoms very similar to diphtheria. It’s possible that the diphtheria vaccine might fight C. ulceran, <\/em>so “<\/em>routine vaccination with diphtheria toxoid-containing vaccines are important to protect persons,” the researchers wrote.<\/p>\n

Metz and her colleagues stressed that it’s still not known whether the humans in these cases contracted C. ulceran <\/em>from their pet, or whether the pet got C. ulceran <\/em>from close contact with their human.<\/p>\n

C. ulceran <\/em>does not spread person-to-person, however: “Human-to-human transmission has not been documented,” the researchers said.<\/p>\n

“Evidence from this investigation suggests that transmission of toxigenic C<\/em>. ulcerans <\/em>between humans and household pets occurred, although the direction of transmission could not be determined,” Metz’ team concluded.<\/p>\n

The findings were published June 13 in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, <\/em>a journal of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/p>\n

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Sources<\/h2>\n