After Getting Scrub Typhus Is It Safe For Me To Keep Cats?

Scrub Typhus, also known as Japanese River Disease or Tsutsugamushi disease is a disease caused by a bacterium known as Orientia tsutsugamushi which belongs to rickettsial group of bacteria. It is endemic in certain parts of northern and eastern Asia, Northern Australia, and some islands of the western Pacific and Indian Ocean. As much as 3% of the population of those regions gets infected each month. Infection of Scrub Typhus confers immunity against future infection. However, it has been found that the immunity wanes over 1-3 years, as such re-infection is often a possibility. In case you are wondering if Scrub Typhus is caused by cats, you are partially right. By the end of the post you will learn how cats are related to Scrub Typhus and whether you should get rid of your cat if you were developed Scrub Typhus.

Scrub Typhus was first described by Hong Ge of China at around 313 AD, and then by Hakuju Hashimoto of Japan at around 1800 AD. Many other accounts of Scrub Typhus infection was given by multiple researchers of Indonesia, India, Taiwan, Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia and Australia around the same period.

Scrub Typhus, as we now know is caused the bacterium Orientia tsutsugamushi. It is a febrile illness and has the following manifestation:

• Fever
• Chills
• Headache
• Joint Pain
• Muscle Pain or Myalgia
• Rash
• Eschar (That looks like a healed ulcer at the bite site of the chigger, the larvae of Trombiculid mite)
• Swollen Lymph nodes (usually near the groin)
• Gastrointestinal Symptoms like Diarrhoea

The severity of illness may range from mild to life threatening disease. As there are not any specific sign or symptoms of scrub typhus, the disease may be difficult to diagnose. A high index of suspicion is required. Laboratory testing for scrub typhus includes testing for antibody, PCR amplification for Scrub Typhus Gene, the samples being collected from blood or eschar.

Certain antibiotics are available for treating Scrub Typhus. This includes Doxycycline, Azithromycin or Chloramphenicol. Resolution of Scrub Typhus occurs on treatment, without any residual damages.

The bacterium in question – Orientia Tsustugamushi is carried by Trombiculid mites. It is when the larvae of the mites bite humans, the bacteria gets transmitted to humans and results in Scrub Typhus Infection.

How cats are related to Scrub Typhus?

Orientia tsutsugamushi as mentioned before is carried by Trombiculid mites. Trombiculid Mite gets infected when it bites an animal suffering from scrub. It can transfer the bacteria to its larva directly through its egg, a process known as Transovarial Transmission and as such maintain a reservoir of the Scrub Typhus bacteria, the Orientia tsutsugamushi. The eggs hatch and give rise to the larva known as “chiggers”. These larvae usually grow in decaying vegetations, which is their natural habitat, but often are notorious to bite humans if they find them in close contact. The chiggers thus can transmit the disease to humans. Although rare, pet animals like cat can get infested by the chiggers while roaming around. The chiggers pierce the skin of the cat, release some enzymes and suck up digested contents. Usually the chiggers or larvae fall off the skin in around 3 to 5 days and develops in its next stage known as the nymph.

Often infected chiggers from the cat can get transmitted to humans through close contact, thereby spreading Scrub Typhus infection. But it is to be noted that those chiggers which pierces and attaches to the skin of the cat do not spread to humans, only the loose ones dose. As such it is very rare for chiggers carrying Orientia tsutsugamushi causing Scrub Typus to get transferred from cats to humans as compared to compared to Murine Typhus, where the vector in question are rat and cat fleas, and the infectious bacteria is Rickettsia Felis. In case a cat is infected with chiggers of Trombiculid mite, it might show the following symptoms:

• Redness of Skin
• Hair Loss
• Crusty Skin
• Itchiness

Cat owners often confuse Scrub Typhus with Cat Scratch Disease. However, it is to be noted that Cat Scratch Disease is caused by Bartonella henselae bacteria, which is a totally different entity.

After getting Scrub Typhus is it safe for me to keep cats?

Theoretically it is possible for cat to indirectly spread Scrub Typhus, but that is very rare compared to Murine Typhus, where cat fleas are the culprit. As we have learnt that the natural habitat of the Trombiculid mite are vegetations and not cats, you need not to get rid of your cat and it is quite safe to keep your cat. But as cat fleas are source of Murine Typhus and rarely can harbor chiggers of Trombiculid Mite carrying the Scrub Typhus bacteria, you should get your pet cats treated for fleas and ticks.

Conclusion

Scrub Typhus is a treatable disease, so are cat chiggers, fleas and ticks. If you suffered from Scrub Typhus and suspect that your cat could be the source, get it treated for chiggers, fleas and ticks by a veterinarian. So, after getting Scrub Typhus it is indeed safe for you to keep cats, provided you receive the treatment for the disease and the cats receive treatment for its parasites. Although there are not any specifically approved treatments for chiggers in cats, but most flea and tick removal products does the job. With appropriate treatment, chigger infestation in cats is resolved within a week.