I caught TB from my pet cat

[Jesus Malverde]

A teenager told last night of her horrific ordeal of catching TB from her pet kitten.

In what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the world, Jessica Livings was struck down with pneumonia and had to have emergency surgery.

The 19-year-old was later rushed back to hospital in agony for further treatment for severe lung damage.

Another victim suffered the same symptoms of bovine tuberculosis and Jessica’s mother Claire contracted the dormant form of the disease.

It also emerged that a child from the south west caught TB from a pet dog.

Read More: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2591930/I-caught-TB-pet-cat-Teenager-tells-rushed-hospital-severe-lung-damage.html

[CFLDem]

1. Yikes

Between this and the Ebola outbreak in Guinea...

[TexasProgresive]

2. And what is the original source of the TB?

The cat/dog did not spontaneously get TB.

[Bosonic]

5. Most likely cow or badger.

http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Cats-infect-humans-TB-8216-contact-badgers-8217/story-20873900-detail/story.html

[AngryAmish]

3. First brain parasites, now this.

Edited for stupidity.

[HereSince1628]

4. Someone bring me up to date...I thought the UK employed a TB vaccine?

Ancillary questions if vaccine is available...

Is this a consequence of people not getting the jab? Or did the vaccine fail?

[magical thyme]

8. it's not widely used in the US for several reasons...

BCG is not generally recommended for use in the United States because of the low risk of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the variable effectiveness of the vaccine against adult pulmonary TB, and the vaccine’s potential interference with tuberculin skin test reactivity. The BCG vaccine should be considered only for very select persons who meet specific criteria and in consultation with a TB expert.
http://www.vaccines.gov/diseases/tb/

I just woke up and realized this is the UK. Here's tb vaccination info from NHS. Pretty much the same as the US:
"It's not given as part of the routine NHS childhood vaccination schedule unless a baby is thought to have an increased risk of coming into contact with TB.

This includes all babies born in some areas of inner-city London where TB rates are higher than in the rest of the country.

BCG vaccination may also be recommended for older children who have an increased risk of developing TB, such as:

•children who have recently arrived from countries with high levels of TB
•children who have come into close contact with somebody infected with respiratory TB
BCG vaccination is rarely given to anyone over the age of 16 - and never over the age of 35, because it doesn't work very well in adults. It is, however, given to adults aged between 16 and 35 who are at risk of TB through their work, such as some healthcare workers."
http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/vaccinations/Pages/bcg-tuberculosis-TB-vaccine.aspx

[HereSince1628]

10. Thanks. I knew it wasn't used in the US...I assumed it was more widely used in the UK.

My father had TB and had to have surgery when I was a kid in the 60's.

I was the only member of the family other than him that had a positive skin test (Tine). I had very unpleasant side-effects from the pills, back then no one really insisted on checking for liver toxicity, if you weren't jaundiced you were good to go. And the PHS nurses and my mother pushed them down my throat, sometimes literally, for many months.

The combination of being treated like typhoid mary by teachers and classmates, and feeling sick and tired for months was brutal, and made me wish I'd have had other options. Consequently, I've long harbored curiosity about the vaccine.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. Interference with tuberculin test

<------ points at me. It is widely used in Mexico where TB used to be endemic.

[herding cats]

6. Badgers. I should have known it had to be badgers!

http://m.

#

[cui bono]

14. Badgers?

We don't need no stinking badgers!

[LisaL]

7. This can be prevented by keeping cats at home.

[frazzled]

9. Pet cats should not be allowed to roam outside

For their own safety and yours. When we adopted our shelter cat more than a dozen years ago, we had to sign an agreement that we would not let her outdoors (also that we would not declaw her). Cats can get FIV, be attacked by predators, get run over by cars, etc.

[freeplessinseattle]

11. oops, ya forgot the quotation marks around the title!

Easy to forget, I see it all the time on DU. Makes much more sense though!

[dembotoz]

12. my wife developed tb during chemo some 25 years ago

to this day not sure which really killed her

leukemia for sure, but the tb limited treatment options and lead to a situation where she could not get a bone marrow transplant
so take your pick


nasty shit
just really
nasty shit