EXCLUSIVE A 31-year-old Texas woman caught C. diff from her PET cat in the first animal-to-human case in the US, giving her months of severe diarrhea

A “healthy” woman in Texas suffered from severe diarrhea for months after contracting a bacterial infection from her pet cat.

The 31-year-old from Houston was diagnosed with C. diff, a highly contagious infection that unbalances the digestive system and leads to painful inflammation in the colon.

It is mostly caused by contact with contaminated surfaces or contact with infected people. But when the woman’s symptoms did not go away after two months, despite taking medication, doctors began further investigation.

They discovered that she had adopted a stray cat about a month before her symptoms started – and decided to test the animal.

It has always been suspected that animals can transmit the infection to humans, but this has never been proven.

The above shows a timeline of the woman’s illness

Swabs showed that both the woman and the cat were infected with the same C. diff strains.

The cat showed no symptoms of illness. The woman was otherwise healthy, did not smoke, drank alcohol socially and had only one male sex partner.

The case was revealed in the American Journal of Case ReportsThe doctors’ warning was a reminder of the risks of pets.

The woman came to the doctor for the first time and complained of severe diarrhea and fever four times a day, which she had been suffering from for a week.

Doctors kept her in the hospital for two days and gave her antibiotics before releasing her.

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Statistics show that about 500,000 Americans become infected with C. difficile each year, with two-thirds of those cases linked to nursing homes.

Each year, 15,000 to 30,000 people die in the United States.

Anyone can become infected, but most cases occur when patients are taking antibiotics or shortly after completing treatment.

This is because antibiotics destroy the bacteria in the gut.

Those most at risk are people aged 65 and over who have recently been in a hospital or nursing home.

Immunocompromised people are also at increased risk.

Symptoms include abdominal pain, loss of appetite, nausea, diarrhea and fever

It can be absorbed in trace amounts and survive the acid in the stomach to enter the intestines, where it begins to grow uncontrollably and release toxins that cause damage to cells.

Symptoms begin five to ten days after infection and initially resemble food poisoning, but persist.

In severe cases, life-threatening dehydration can occur, caused by severe diarrhea due to the infection.

Research shows that up to 20 percent of patients die from a C. difficile infection within 30 days of diagnosis, although the disease is much more common in older adults with weaker immune systems.

The disease can also damage cells in the colon, increasing the risk of developing cancer and developing colon cancer.

Cats can become infected with C. difficile through contact Soil contaminated with the feces of other animals.

They can also become infected by eating contaminated food and in veterinary clinics and shelters where they are close to other animals.

Dogs can ingest the bacteria in the same way.

Cats can then get traces of the bacteria on their fur when they clean themselves, or they can appear in their feces.

People can contract it by petting the animal or cleaning the litter box, which can lead to infection.

Antibiotics are used to treat C. difficile infections.