Sepsis Caused by Newly Identified Capnocytophaga canis Following Cat Bites: C. canis Is the Third Candidate along with C. canimorsus and C. cynodegmi Causing Zoonotic Infection

• Published in: Internal Medicine Vol. 57; no. 2; pp. 273 - 277
• Main Authors: Taki, Minami, Shimojima, Yoshio, Nogami, Ayako, Yoshida, Takuhiro, Suzuki, Michio, Imaoka, Koichi, Momoi, Hiroki, Hanyu, Norinao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Japan The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine 01.01.2018; Japan Science and Technology Agency
• Subjects: Aged; Animal bites; Animals; Bites and Stings - classification; Bites and Stings - microbiology; Blood Culture; Capnocytophaga; Capnocytophaga canimorsus; Capnocytophaga canis; Case Report; Cats; Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation; Female; Fever; Humans; Infections; Internal medicine; Multiple Organ Failure; Nucleotide sequence; oxidase activity; Rods; Sepsis; Sepsis - etiology; Sepsis - microbiology; Splenectomy; Virulence; Zoonoses; Capnocytophaga canis; Capnocytophaga canimorsus; oxidase activity; sepsis
• ISSN: 0918-2918; 1349-7235; 1349-7235
• DOI: 10.2169/internalmedicine.9196-17

Sepsis caused by a Capnocytophaga canis infection has only been rarely reported. A 67-year-old female with a past medical history of splenectomy was admitted to our hospital with fever and general malaise. She had been bitten by a cat. She showed disseminated intravascular coagulation and multi-organ failure because of severe sepsis. On blood culture, characteristic gram-negative fusiform rods were detected; therefore, a Capnocytophaga species infection was suspected. A nucleotide sequence analysis revealed the species to be C. canis, which was newly identified in 2016. C. canis may have low virulence in humans; however, C. canis with oxidase activity may cause severe zoonotic infection.