Cats probably acquire bubonic plague infection most often by mouthing or ingesting infected rodents. Human plague cases acquired from cats usually involve direct contact with infected fluids from the cat, or by cat bites or scratches. Four human cases of primary pneumonic plague are known to have been acquired from cats in 1980, 1982, 1992 and 1993, adding another extremely dangerous dimension to the rodent-cat-human transmission route. One of these cases was fatal, and another patient had to have an infected lung removed.
Source:
"ID #6714." Public Health Image Library (PHIL). 18 Mar 2005. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 28 Jan 2009
