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 turtle?
A UK hairdresser is recovering from necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating disease) that was linked to his pet turtle. The problem started when he cut his finger while cleaning out the turtle’s tank. An infection developed, which isn’t too surprising since a turtle terrarium is full of a variety of bacteria. However, instead of a mild, local
Pets and strep
An upcoming article in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases entitled "Zoonoses in the bedroom" has attracted some attention in the press. I haven’t been able to access a copy yet, but will probably write about it soon. However, one article that was written about the paper had a pretty weak lead-in piece:
"Nikki
Horse bite leads to meningitis
You never want to be the subject of a medical case report. A 37-year-old British woman was featured in a recent edition of Lancet (Brouwer et al 2010), in a paper entitled "A horse bite to remember."
The woman was admitted to hospital with a fever, headache, neck stiffness, confusion, difficulty
Strep zoo infections in people
Streptococcus zooepidemicus is an important cause of infections in horses. This bacterium can also be found in healthy horses. When you consider the large number of horses that are infected and the larger number of healthy horses that are carriers, along with the close contact that people have with horses, it’s pretty obvious that people
Bare feet and horse bugs
I assume that people wouldn’t voluntarily and regularly walk around barefoot on dog feces (or feces of any type), yet it’s perplexing that some people regularly clean out horse stalls in bare feet (I’ve seen it done!). While horse manure may not be as inherently gross as dog poop, it’s still feces, and like all
Another fatal strep outbreak at a shelter
A very poorly-written and confusing report suggests that another Streptococcus zooepidemicus outbreak is underway in dogs in a shelter in Ohio. Five of 175 dogs on the premises died suddenly of hemorrhagic pneumonia. The report variably mentioned a "virus that mutated from horses," that it’s thought to be "not contagious" despite multiple dogs being
Group A strep and dogs
I was asked this the other day, in regards to a post about pets and recurrent strep infections in people: "You listed a few things to remember and one of them was how the pet might be an "innocent bystander infected by a family member." Is there any indication that a dog might get
Horse Strep in a person via a dog
Streptococcus equi subspecies zooepidemicus (usually just called Strep zooepidemicus) is a common cause of infection in horses. It is an "opportunist" that is often found in healthy horses, but which can cause disease in certain situations. While horses are the natural host of this bacterium, sporadic infections and outbreaks are occasionally reported in dogs at
“Horse strep” in people
I received the following question the other day: "I have a friend who had chemo embolization on tumor on liver in late June. She is in hospital now, and an abscess was discovered on liver. Pathology results said "equine strep". Her brother visited immediately after procedure, and he works with horse full time."
Streptococcus is