Man dies after contracting rare killer infection when his pet dog licked him – Mirror Online, Mirror.co.uk

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A man has died after a dog lick caused a catalog of horrific conditions including pneumonia, gangrene and a fever of 41 C.

Medics discovered the 63 – year-old had been infected with Capnocytophaga canimorsussepsis, a bacteria that is most commonly transmitted by bites and open wounds.

Despite this, he somehow contracted the condition despite only being licked by his pet.

The man first went to Rotes Kreuk Krankenhaus hospital in Bremen, Germany, with flu-like symptoms, including a three-day fever and labored b reathing.

People are most at risk if they have a history of poor health or heavy alcohol use. Unusually, the man didn’t have either.

By the time he started treatment, the man already had severe sepsis and needed intensive care.

As his condition deteriorated over 30 hours, a rash spread over his face and he had nerve pain and bruising on his legs, theNZ Herald reports.

The condition progressed to his kidneys, his liver shut down and he had clotting in his blood vessels. Eventually his skin started to rot away.

He then suffered a cardiac arrest, but was successfully resuscitated and mechanically ventilated.

He developed a fungal infection in his lungs, which led to suspected pneumonia; blisters over his entire body and gangrene in his fingers and toes. He then caught MRSA.

Scans revealed he had a massive build-up of fluid in his brain, which was causing permanent damage to the organ.

His condition deteriorated and multiple organs began to fail.

Due to this, doctors and the man’s family stopped his life support and he died 16 days after being admitted to hospital.

The team, led by Dr Naomi Mader, said: “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.”

Sepsis can typically be treated with antibiotics and the faster the infection is diagnosed the higher chance of recovery. However, around 30 percent of those infected will die,The Sun reported.

The unusual case was written in theEuropean Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine.