Wisconsin man loses limbs from infection contracted from dog

Surgeons have amputated the legs and hands of a Wisconsin man who contracted a rare blood infection from a dog lick.

Greg Manteufel, 48, remains hospitalized at a Milwaukee area hospital. Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin infectious disease specialist Dr. Silvia Munoz-Price said the bacteria that invaded Manteufel’s body comes from the saliva of a dog. She said the infection caused Manteufel’s blood pressure to drop and circulation in his limbs to decrease rapidly.

His wife, Dawn Manteufel, says her husband was perfectly healthy until he began having flu-like symptoms that landed him in the hospital in late June. Doctors first amputated Manteufel’s legs, just below the knee. His forearms were amputated two weeks later. The tip of his nose also lost blood circulation and will need surgery to repair.

Dr. Munoz-Price said the blood infection is called capnocytophaga, and is common in the saliva of cats and dogs but almost never leads to illness.