Health authorities look into cat bite risk

By Jung Min-ho

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) is now looking into the risks of cat bites after a woman in Japan died of a tick-borne disease caused by a cat bite earlier this week.

The 50-year-old woman reportedly died of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) 10 days after a stray cat bit her. Given her body showed no signs of a direct tick bite, Japan’s health ministry concluded the cat transmitted the disease to her ― the world’s first such animal-to-human transmission.

The KCDC is checking facts about the woman’s death. A KCDC official said the organization may have to change its safety guidelines for the disease if Japan’s announcement is true.

SFTS has a fatality rate as high as 30 percent. The disease is most commonly found in Central Asia and China and known to be transmitted only through bites from virus-carrying ticks.

After an incubation period of six days to two weeks, SFTS starts to cause symptoms such as fever, drowsiness, vomiting, diarrhea and organ failure.