(HealthDay News) -- Cat scratch disease (CSD) is a bacterial infection that develops when people have been bitten or scratched by a cat. Lymph nodes, especially those around the head, neck and upper limbs, become swollen. A person with CSD may also have symptoms of fever, headache, fatigue and a poor appetite.
About 40 percent of cats, especially kittens, carry the bacteria that causes this disease at some time in their lives. Cats that carry it do not show any signs of illness, so you cannot tell which cats can spread the disease. Although the bacteria has been found in fleas, so far there is no evidence that a bite from an infected flea can give you CSD.
The National Center for Infectious Diseases offers these tips to prevent CSD: