http://news.ninemsn.com.au/world/8501214/us-man-catches-the-plague-from-cat
A US man may lose his fingers and toes after contracting a rare case of the plague after being bitten by a cat.
Paul Gaylord, 59, of rural Oregon, was attempting to remove a dead mouse that was choking a stray cat when the animal bit him, the Associated Press reports.
Unable to save the stray, Mr Gaylord shot the animal and buried it.
Two days later, Mr Gaylord began experiencing flu-like symptoms but was unable to see a doctor until a week later, when he was eventually diagnosed with cat-scratch fever and sent home.
His condition continued to deteriorate and after returning to a medical centre, Mr Gaylord was sent by ambulance to hospital where he was diagnosed with the plague.
“We didn’t even know the plague was around anymore,” sister Diana Gaylord told Associated Press. “We thought that was an ancient, ancient disease.
“He had a lump under his arm swollen almost as big as a lemon.” Mr Gaylord’s fingers and toes have turned black with the infection killing cells in the former welder’s extremities.
Doctors will attempt to save some of his fingers or toes, but Mr Gaylord isn’t hopeful.
“I’m going to lose all my fingers on both hands. I don’t know about my thumbs. The toes — I might lose all them too,” he said.
The plague, commonly referred to as Black Death, is a bacterium that is estimated to have killed up to 60 percent of Europe’s population in the 14th century.
The extremely rare disease can be carried by fleas and tests on the stray cat confirmed it was infected with the plague.
Mr Gaylord spent almost a month fighting for his life in intensive care, with doctors at one stage unsure if he would survive.
Mr Gaylord’s family are now trying to raise money for a purpose-built house to replace the mouldy, mouse-infested house he and his wife currently live in.