Life-Threatening Respiratory Pasteurellosis Associated With

Pasteurella multocida is a zoonotic Gram-negative cocco-bacillus often associated with soft tissue infections due to dog and cat bites. Here we report 3 patients who developed life-threatening P. multocida respiratory tract infections after providing palliative care to their dying pets. The majority of patients with Pasteurella multocida infections are bitten or scratched by the offending animal [1]. The mor-tality of P. multocida infections, especially severe and invasive infections like pneumonia, could be more pronounced than that seen with bite infections [2, 3]. We report 3 patients with life-threatening P. multocida respiratory tract infections associated with palliative pet care. A PubMed search revealed no report of zoonotic illness associated with palliative pet care. Because more than 50 % of pet owners consider pets as family members [4] and because of the likely expansion of palliative pet care services [5], providers of palliative pet care will likely have more frequent close contact with dying animals and may be at risk for invasive P. multocida infections. Pet owners, veterinarians, animal care-takers, and physicians should therefore be aware of the potential risk of life-threatening respiratory P. multocida infections in the setting of palliative pet care. In patients with possible zoonotic infection, the physician’s history about patient-animal contact should routinely include questions regarding end-of-life animal care