Humans develop TB after cat contact in 'world first'

Two people have developed tuberculosis (TB) after contact with a cat in the first ever recorded cases of cat-to-human transmission, officials have said.

Public Health England said despite this news, the risk of cat owners contract TB was "very low".

ITV News Correspondent Rupert Evelyn reports:

Read: Humans develop TB after cat contact in 'world first'

Public Health England has said the risk of cat owners contracting tuberculosis is "very low" after two people developed the disease after coming into contact with a cat.

Professor Dilys Morgan told ITV News, "Something strange has happened in this instance".

"We don't know exactly what's happened but I don't think that we can read too much into it, that it is an increasing trend," she added.

Read: Humans develop TB after cat contact in 'world first'

Mother-of-two Clare Farley told ITV News she made the tough decision to have her cat put down when Jasper contracted tuberculosis as it was "terribly worrying".

Ms Farley told ITV News Correspondent Rupert Evelyn, "The fact that the younger [children] are their immune system is not built up yet ... I could not have a cat in the house that could potentially give them a really nasty disease".

Read: Humans develop TB after cat contact in 'world first'

Two people have developed tuberculosis (TB) after contact with a cat in the first ever recorded cases of cat-to-human transmission, officials have said.

Public Health England (PHE) said two people developed tuberculosis after contact with a domestic cat infected with bacteria Mycobacterium bovis.

The bacteria causes TB in cattle (known as bovine TB) and in other animals.

Nine cases of Mycobacterium bovis infection in domestic cats in Berkshire and Hampshire were investigated by the Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) and PHE last year.