Wisconsin Man Has Legs And Hands Amputated After A Lick From A Dog Causes Severe Infection

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member



WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES BELOW

A Wisconsin man has lost his hands and legs after he contracted a life-threatening bacterial infection from a dog.

Greg Manteufel loved riding his Harley motorcycle but might not be able to ride it again after his limbs had to be amputated after he got a blood infection which doctors believe he contracted after a dog licked him.

A friend of Manteufel’s created a GoFundMe account for him in which it described the motorcycle lover feeling ill on June 27.

“Within hours of the onset of symptoms, Greg’s body started to go into septic shock,” the fundraiser post read. “Once Greg was admitted to the hospital, they were able to confirm the reason Greg was septic.”

Manteufel had contracted a bacteria known as Capnocytophaga Canimorsus— a bacteria found in healthy dogs and cats that causes “severe sepsis and fatal septic shock, gangrene of the digits or extremities, high-grade bacteremia, meningitis, endocarditis, and eye infections” when a dog bite occurs, according to a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information.



Greg Manteufel
Courtesy Dawn Manteufel
The bacteria “hit him with a vengeance,” his wife, Dawn, told Fox 6 Now.

“Just bruising all over him,” she said, referring to the blood spots that began appearing all over his body. “Looked like somebody beat him up with a baseball bat.”

Days after he was admitted to the hospital, doctors amputated Manteufel’s feet. When more damage was sustained, he underwent a second surgery that amputated his legs through both of his kneecaps, according to his GoFundMe.

His hands — all of his fingers down to mid-palm — were also removed, with doctors telling his family his nose would need “extensive repairs” to rebuild it.



Greg Manteufel is a dog and Harley lover
GoFundMe
Dawn told the Washington Post she was not sure which dog transmitted the bacteria to her husband was a dog lover and had been around eight dogs around the time he became ill.

“He loves dogs,” she told the newspaper. “He would touch any dog; he doesn’t care.”

While he may have lost his limbs, Dawn said Manteufel was determined to remain positive.

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“He told the doctors, ‘Do what you have to do to keep me alive,'” Dawn said. “There’s no negativity from him so far… He said, ‘It is what it is, so we have to move forward.'”

“There’s no choice. We have no choice but to be positive and make the best of it,” she added.
 

GreenEyedJen

Well-Known Member
Oh my God. This is terrifying.

I came in here with the full intention of sending this to my SO as he’s one of those types to literally pick up a dog on the side of the road and nurse them back to health, but it says healthy dogs and cats carry this bacteria. Really scary.
 

PatTodd

Well-Known Member
Jesus.

I went to pick up my son from his friend’s house. When I opened the door, the dog jumped on me , ripped my sweatshirt and bra, didn't rip my yoga pants because they were stretchy, but ripped the skin on my inner thigh in several places. Thank God I got a tetanus shot on the advice of a doctor friend. I didn’t get an infection, but it was swollen and too many colors to count for a long time. And I have scars.
 

Crackers Phinn

Either A Blessing Or A Lesson.
This sounds like something that would happen in Australia. I'm allergic to everything so I wasn't in danger of getting licked by dogs of the four legged anyway. While I do think people letting animals kiss them all in they face is gross I get that's how pets show affection and it's easy to forget that this loving animal is just a walking petrie dish of plague and purgation.
 

ThirdEyeBeauty

Well-Known Member
I'm glad I went to the ER after a cat bite to the digits. It became infected and symptomatic quickly. There was already topical antibiotics used immediately after the bite and cold water used for several minutes. Still got bad. I'm glad I did not sleep it off. Today I cannot remember which finger it was. I hate cats now.
 

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member
Oh my God. This is terrifying.

I came in here with the full intention of sending this to my SO as he’s one of those types to literally pick up a dog on the side of the road and nurse them back to health, but it says healthy dogs and cats carry this bacteria. Really scary.
He probably lets the dogs lick him all in the face and mouth. I joined some dog groups of FB and I’m literally gagging everyday. People posting videos of themselves sharing ice cream cones with their dogs. It’s just nasty.
 

metro_qt

Well-Known Member
I read this article and then started reading sidebar articles about how other people developed Sepsis after random things like nail biting. I had to stop reading the articles. Scary stuff.
It's really easy to develop sepsis in old people's homes...actually they say that sepsis is the 10th leading cause of death in old age.

My grandmother, living in an old age home, just woke up one day, said her stomach hurt (I just read that that was one of the signs of progressed sepsis) they kept her for a while trying to figure out if it was her gall bladder or her heart, they took her to the hospital for what they thought was a heart attack, but by that point/when they called us, she went into septic shock and never woke up.
:(
 

Charmingchick1

Well-Known Member
It's really easy to develop sepsis in old people's homes...actually they say that sepsis is the 10th leading cause of death in old age.

My grandmother, living in an old age home, just woke up one day, said her stomach hurt (I just read that that was one of the signs of progressed sepsis) they kept her for a while trying to figure out if it was her gall bladder or her heart, they took her to the hospital for what they thought was a heart attack, but by that point/when they called us, she went into septic shock and never woke up.
:(

My goodness! I’m so sorry. That’s so very scary.
 

Kimbosheart

Well-Known Member
If healthy dogs have it. There has to be some other mitigating factor in how he caught it. I’m not condoning dogs licking you in the mouth but I’ve been around a ton of animals domestic and wild animals in a sort of captivity. Dogs, cats, horses and cows have licked me and I have a pic of a Giraffe “kiss”. We didn’t touch tongues but he got close. I’m thinking this man already had an open wound that the bacteria exploited. But either way this is scary.
 

Shula

Well-Known Member
We order band aids in bulk from Amazon and if there is any cut or break in the skin, we cover after treating with antibiotic ointments/creams. Heard of a case long ago like this and it spurred us to play offense. This man is going through it. I feel bad for him.
 

shortycocoa

Hair Weave Killer

Wow....that is beyond slack! :nono:

This story is sad and scary at the same time. It prompted me to look into other diseases that can be passed from animals to humans and I have learned quite a lot.

On a side note, For a long time I also didn't know that dogs could get cancer or that there was FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus). I remember years ago when my mom told me that one of her Maltese dogs had gotten cancer. I was shocked and asked her how she (the dog) got it. My mom just said dogs can get those types of diseases too, but she said she took her to the Vet for a routine visit and they found swollen lymph nodes, mostly in her neck, that were indicative of cancer. It was a long, slow death for her and she smelled and looked horrible. She also lost her eyesight and some of her fur was hanging off of her skin.

I know several times me and my younger brother had to tell her she needed to go ahead and have the dog put down or something, but she never did.
 

Leeda.the.Paladin

Well-Known Member
I just read that a woman in Wisconsin died from the same infection after being nipped by her puppy. :(

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/...-490556831.html?_osource=SocialFlowFB_DCBrand
From that article

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention notes adults 40 years old and older are more likely to contract the rare infection, and risk factors include alcoholism and weak immune system related to cancer, HIV and diabetes. Another key risk factor is not having a spleen.
 
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