The bacterium Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus (often simply called Streptococcus zooepidemicus) is one that I think I understand less and less, including the risks this predominantly equine-associated bug poses to humans. It’s a well-known and common bacterium in horses, both healthy and sick, and can also be found in dogs and cats (where it
necrotizing fasciitis
Flesh-eating disease in a dog
By Scott Weese on
Posted in Dogs
A Wyoming (USA) dog has died of necrotizing fasciitis (more popularly and dramatically known as "flesh-eating disease"). This isn’t unheard of in dogs, but it’s a pretty rare disease. The six-year-old Great Dane’s infection apparently raised some concern because of the diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis in three people in the area. However, there is no…
Flesh eating disease from a cat bite
By Scott Weese on
Posted in Cats
An Albany, Georgia woman is fortunately recovering from necrotizing fasciitis (flesh eating disease) that developed after a cat bite. The cat presumably wasn’t the source of the bacterium that caused the disease, but it was the source of the wound that let the bacterium (usually Group A Streptococcus sp) get into her body in…