Healthy Elderly Man Contracts Rare Infection After Being Licked By Pet Dog, Dies

An elderly man caught a rare infection and died after he was licked by his pet dog. The case was published in the European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine by doctors in Bremen, Germany, on Thursday.

According to the case report, the unidentified 63-year-old man went to a hospital after suffering from flu-like symptoms for three days. However, his condition soon deteriorated and was moved to the ICU after he was struck down by sepsis. Within the next four days, his condition worsened. He developed nerve pain and bruises in his legs, which soon progressed to his internal organs shutting down. His skin too started rotting, leading to a cardiac arrest.

Doctors managed to revive him and he was put on life support. He, however, developed an infection in his lungs, leading to pneumonia. He then developed gangrene in his toes and fingers. Considering the deteriorating health, the family members and the doctors decided to stop the life support following which the man died after spending over two weeks in the hospital.

Doctors said the man was infected with Capnocytophaga canimorsus, a type of bacteria that is transmitted by bites and by lick in some cases. Doctors said though the bacteria usually seriously affect people with weak immune system, the case proves it can affect anyone.

“Pet owners with flu-like symptoms should urgently seek medical advice when their symptoms exceed those of a simple viral infection, which in this case were breathing problems and rash. Physicians confronted with such patients should ask about contact with dogs and cats,” Dr. Naomi Mader, wrote in the report.