When Dan Levitis, his wife, Iris, and their three young children trooped into a Madison, Wis., urgent care clinic around 8 a.m. on New Year’s Day 2018, the staff didn’t seem surprised to see them. The family had sought treatment several times in the previous two months for recurrent strep throat infections.

They had taken multiple rounds of drugs, professionally deep cleaned their home and replaced contaminated toothbrushes, but none of it worked for long. Inevitably, the infection came roaring back.  (See link for article)

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**Comment**

A very intriguing case.  Important excerpts:

Levitis called his mother, a retired pediatrician who had practiced in suburban Maryland, for advice. She told him about a family she had seen who kept getting strep until they got rid of their pet cat.

While a report from the American Veterinary Medical Association states that doctors sometimes blame pets for recurrent strep throat infections, “evidence doesn’t support this.”

To the surprise of the vet school faculty, group A strep was found in the cat’s throat; it appeared to match the strain of strep collected during Levitis’s most recent throat culture.

This case shows that clinical doctors often know things medical associations don’t!

The family went on vacation, (all treated with antibiotics) and their house was professionally cleaned for the second time, while the asymptomatic cat was also given antibiotics and disinfectant spray for his fur, which finally put a stop to the endless strep infections.

Due to the denial of most of the doctors and their corresponding unwillingness to swab the cat’s throat, this case almost went unsolved.  Food for thought, and another reminder to be willing to fight for answers.

For more:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/01/29/woman-links-lyme-disease-diagnosis-to-pet-cat-sleeping-in-bed/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/05/28/woman-wakes-up-with-black-eye-swollen-face-after-cat-scratch-that-left-her-on-iv-drip-for-four-days/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2020/07/14/woman-killed-from-lethal-bacteria-after-cat-licked-her/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2019/06/28/cat-scratch-disease-vet-suffers-extreme-fatigue-for-a-decade-after-catching-rare-severe-case-of-bartonella-infection-that-isnt-rare/

These articles are just the tip of the ice-berg.  I hope this makes it crystal clear that Bartonella is NOT RARE!