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Case Reports
. 2022 Jan 24;14(2):223.
doi: 10.3390/v14020223.

Suspected Transmission of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus from a Cat to a Veterinarian by a Single Contact: A Case Report

Atsushi Miyauchi  1 , Ken-Ei Sada  1   2 , Hirotaka Yamamoto  1 , Hiroki Iriyoshi  1 , Yuji Touyama  1 , Daisuke Hashimoto  1 , Shigeru Nojima  1 , Shingo Yamanaka  1 , Keita Ishijima  3 , Ken Maeda  3 , Masafumi Kawamura  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Suspected Transmission of Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus from a Cat to a Veterinarian by a Single Contact: A Case Report

Atsushi Miyauchi et al. Viruses. .

Abstract

A 67-year-old male veterinarian presented with fatigue, anorexia, and diarrhea. Although there were no tick bite marks, we suspected severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) due to bicytopenia, mild disturbance of consciousness, and a history of outdoor activities. Thus, we started immunoglobulin therapy immediately. A serum reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test for SFTS virus (SFTSV) was positive. The patient had treated a cat with thrombocytopenia 10 days prior to admission. The cat's serum SFTSV RT-PCR test result was positive, and the whole genome sequences of the patient's and cat's SFTSV were identical, suggesting the possibility of transmission from the cat to the patient. Other cases of direct cat-to-human SFTV transmission have been reported recently. Mucous membranes should be protected, including eye protection, in addition to standard precautions, when in contact with any cat with suspected SFTS.

Keywords: cat-to-human transmission; cats; human; polymerase chain reaction; severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

All authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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