Dog’s saliva leads to man’s limbs being amputated

A WISCONSIN man had all of his limbs amputated after he contracted a rare blood infection from his pet dog’s saliva, according to a report.

Greg Manteufel thought he had the flu and went to the hospital last month — only to find out that his body was being ravaged by Capnocytophaga canimorsus, a type of bacteria found in the saliva of dogs and cats. It can in very rare cases, enter the bloodstream through their licks, bites or other close contact.

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

Within a week, doctors told him they had to cut off his legs — as the disease, which caused 48-year-old Manteufel’s blood pressure to plummet and the circulation in his limbs to dramatically decrease.

“Sometimes it decreases so much that the arms and legs just die,” said Dr. Silvia Munoz-Price, an infectious disease specialist at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Doctors were eventually forced to amputate portions of his hands and then half of both forearms.

“We can’t wrap our heads around it … He’s been around dogs all of his life … and this happens,” said Dawn Manteufel. “All he kept saying to the doctors — ‘take what you need but keep me alive, And they did it.”

Doctor’s told the outlet they believe the bacteria that infected Manteufel came from his dog, Ellie.

“More than 99 per cent of the people that have dogs will never have this issue. It’s just chance,” said Munoz-Price.

According to the Center for Disease Control, people with weakened immune systems are more at risk of contracting the bacteria.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to cover his many surgeries and prosthetic for his hands and legs — which he’ll be fitted for once he recovers from sepsis.

To date, his fundraising campaign has raised more than $A100K out of his $A338K goal.