Man's skin started rotting after his pet dog licked his hand

A 63-year-old man's skin started rotting after his pet dog licked him. According to reports, the man was licked by his dog, ultimately leading him to contract a bacterial infection known as Capnocytophaga. The infection is mostly found in the mouths of cats and dogs and is usually transmitted through a bite rather than a lick.

Man survived

According to reports, Greg Manteufel was rushed to a hospital when he started showing flu-like symptoms for about three days and was found to have contracted the rare blood infection after his skin showed bruising before it started to show signs of rotting alongside blood clots. Manteufel's condition further deteriorated as kidneys and liver began to shut down eventually leading to a cardiac arrest. He was brought back to life by the doctors after his heart stopped and put on life support.

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Even after he was put on life support, doctors witnessed a rapid decline in his health after developing a fungal infection in his lungs, blisters on his body and gangrene in both his fingers and toes. According to reports, scans showcased that the man had a lot of fluid in his brain which was resulting in permanent damage to the organ. The man survived and is now getting used to the life of using prosthetics while waiting for a surgery to fix his nose.

Doctors looking into the incident were concerned about the fact that the man was in a healthy state before his pet dog licked him. However, people in other cases have had some sort of an immunodeficiency, drinking problem or splenectomy which made them more vulnerable to the bacterial infection.

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Capnocytophaga Canimorsus

Capnocytophaga Canimorsus, a bacterial pathogen, is commonly found in the mouths of both cats and dogs. This infection is commonly transmitted through bites or being in close proximity to animals. If someone catches the rare blood infection, the symptoms start to pop up within a span of one to eight days of contracting the disease. However, the patient can have flu-like symptoms or in extreme cases, Sepsis.

The bacterial infection has an effective course of treatment with the help of antibiotics being used for a recommended period of three weeks but it can have side effects such as amputation of hands and legs due to gangrene, kidney failure and in the worst case, a heart attack.

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(With inputs from agencies)