Plague Ship. by Andre Norton

After an unusual mission trading catnip to the catlike Salariki of planet Sargol, Dane Thorson and other low-ranking crew members of the Solar Queen watch in horror as the rest of their crew falls mysteriously ill. Only the four men left standing-and maybe the Captain's bizarre pet Hoobat-can save their ship from drifting through space for all time, condemned as a plague ship. Originally published by Gnome Press in 1956 under the name Andrew North, Plague Ship is the second installment in the Solar Queen series of science fiction novels by Andre Norton, the male pseudonym of Alice Mary Norton.