Man loses 4 limbs after dog lick leads to infection

A 48-year-old man with a history of good health and who has spent his life around dogs was forced to have all of his limbs amputated after contracting a rare blood infection that likely came from his own pooch.

Greg Manteufel, of West Bend, Wisc., landed in the emergency room last month with what he thought was the flu.

“It hit him with a vengeance,” Dawn Manteufel, his wife, told Fox 6. “Just bruising all over him. Looked like somebody beat him up with a baseball bat.”

Subsequent testing revealed that Manteufel had contracted an infection from a bacteria identified as capnocytophaga, which is found in dog saliva. The bacteria can cause severe infections in people with weakened immune systems, and is spread through bites or close contact with infected dogs.

Patients infected with the bacteria may exhibit blisters around the bite wound, redness or swelling, fever, diarrhea, vomiting, headaches and muscle and joint pain. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), symptoms will typically appear within three to five days, but can take up to two weeks to present themselves. Severe infections can be fatal within 72 hours after symptoms appear.

The infection caused Manteufel’s blood pressure to drop, and the circulation to his limbs decreased, causing those limbs to turn black.

Dawn Manteufel said that within one week, her husband’s legs were gone, followed by more surgeries to remove portions of his hands, and then half of both forearms.

The family has set up a GoFundMe account to help pay for his medical bills.

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