Case report reveals cat flea infestation causing severe pruritus and urticaria in an 18-year-old girl, highlighting zoonotic risks.
The cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) is a zoonotic insect that commonly infests cats. Unlike lice, they have a wide host range and can infest a variety of mammals, including humans. They can be vectors of many bacterial, viral and rickettsial diseases. Here, we report and describe a case of cat flea infestation in a human, which led to severe pruritus, urticaria and papulomatous lesions. An 18-year-old girl who had no pets but was infested with C. felis. The patient had typical flea-bite dermatitis (FBD) on the neck and arm. The flea was removed and identified as C. felis. The patient was advised to take levocetirizine once daily for five days, which led to satisfactory recovery from FBD.
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Shohana et al. (2025) studied this question.
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