An illness of the nose, throat, and sinus area of felids which is very similar to the common cold in humans: Olive's Egyptian cat was ill and it was diagnosed by the veterinarian as having a feline upper respiratory infection, a dangerous condition but treatable with medications.

In tabbies, these feline upper respiratory infections, which are common and very contagious, are more common in areas associated with overcrowding and poor sanitation, for example in catteries and rescue shelters and also in outdoor feral cat populations (a feral cat or other animal is one that lives in a wild state but was once kept as a pet or lived on a farm).

Several organisms, both bacterial and viral, can cause the feline upper respiratory infection and the two primary viruses usually are feline herpesvirus-1 (FHV) and feline calicivirus (FCV).

Feline Chlamydia, a bacterial infection, can also result in feline upper respiratory tract infections, as well as other organisms which are spread from felid to kitty through eye, nasal, and oral secretions.

Itching spots on legs have turned into ulcerated sores from some salons that have been using whirlpool spas that soothe feet prior to a pedicure.

An infection which is caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria; often called "staph".

A strain of staph emerged in hospitals in the past that was resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. Termed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), it was one of the first germs to resist all but the most powerful drugs. MRSA infection can be fatal.

Staph bacteria are normally found on the skin or in the nose of about one-third of the population. If you have staph on your skin or in your nose, but aren't sick, you are said to be "colonized" but not infected with MRSA. Healthy people can be colonized with MRSA and have no ill effects, however they can pass the germ on to others.

Staph bacteria are generally harmless unless they enter the body through a cut or other wound, and even then they simply cause only minor skin problems in healthy people. In older adults and people who are ill or have weakened immune systems, ordinary staph infections can cause a serious illness.

In the 1990s, a type of MRSA began showing up in the wider community. Today that form of staph, known as "community-associated MRSA", or "CA-MRSA", is responsible for many serious skin and soft tissue infections and for a serious form of pneumonia.

Causes of MRSA

Although the survival tactics of bacteria contribute to antibiotic resistance, humans bear most of the responsibility for the problem. Leading causes of antibiotic resistance include:

1. Unnecessary antibiotic use in humans.

Like other superbugs, MRSA is the result of decades of excessive and unnecessary antibiotic use. For years, antibiotics have been prescribed for colds, flu and other viral infections that don't respond to these drugs, as well as for simple bacterial infections that normally clear up on their own.

2. Antibiotics in food and water.

Prescription drugs aren't the only source of antibiotics. In the United States, antibiotics can be found in beef cattle, pigs and chickens. The same antibiotics then find their way into municipal water systems when the runoff from feedlots contaminates streams and groundwater.

Routine feeding of antibiotics to animals is banned in the European Union and many other industrialized countries. Antibiotics given in the proper doses to animals that are sick don't appear to produce resistant bacteria.

3. Germ mutation.

Even when antibiotics are used appropriately, they contribute to the rise of drug-resistant bacteria because they don't destroy every germ they target.

Bacteria live on an evolutionary process, so germs that survive treatment with one antibiotic soon learn to resist others, and because bacteria mutate much more quickly than new drugs can be produced, some germs end up resistant to just about everything. That's why only a handful of drugs are now effective against most forms of staph.

An infection that is acquired in a hospital: Specifically, nosocomial infections are those that are not present nor incubating before patients have been admitted to a medical institution, but such contaminations usually become apparent within 72 hours after admission to the hospital.

Nosocomial infections that were (and are) resistant to antibiotics have become more widespread in infirmaries.

Acquired during treatment, nosocomial infections are produced by microorganisms that dwell in health facilities.

Nosocomial infections are why some people say that a medical center is no place for a sick person.

Nosocomial infections come from the microorganisms and pathogens that thrive in places for the treatment of diseases or arrive with new valetudinarians (sick persons) who go to such institutions.

Many nosocomial infections are spread in numerous ways because organisms can be transmitted:

Hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP) or any pneumonia which is contracted by a patient in a hospital at least 48–72 hours after entry: Nosocomial respiratory infections are considered to be the second most common hospital infection (urinary tract infection is the most common) and it accounts for 15–20% of the total infections that are acquired from medical facilities.

Nosocomial respiratory infections are said to be the most common causes of death that are transmitted in intensive care units or infirmaries.