Pasteurella Infections — Not Only from Animal Bites

Most physicians associate serious Pasteurella multocida infections with animal bites. Few realize, however, that nursing sick pets may also transmit disease.

Researchers described three cases of serious upper respiratory-tract infections in adults who had cared for dying pets: acute bacterial epiglottitis in a dog owner, acute bacterial uvulitis in a cat owner, and lobar pneumonia in a cat owner. All patients were acutely ill, had nursed their pets within the previous 6 weeks, and had no other animal exposure. P. multocida was isolated from blood cultures in the first two patients and from bronchial washings in the third. All patients were treated with a quinolone and did well.