Correspondence

The Cat and the Catheter

N Engl J Med 1995; 332:338-339February 2, 1995

Article

To the Editor:

Pasteurella multocida is part of the normal flora of many domestic animals and can produce infection in humans. Although the infection is often acquired through a bite, we describe a patient with P. multocida bacteremia acquired in an unusual manner.

A 35-year-old man with poorly differentiated rhabdomyosarcoma had undergone placement of a Hickman catheter for adjuvant chemotherapy. He was sleeping at home and woke up to find fresh blood on his chest. His Hickman catheter was damaged and had bite marks on it. It appeared to have been chewed. He had a cat, which was in the room where the patient had been sleeping. He went to the emergency room and was admitted, and the Hickman catheter was removed. On the second day in the hospital, he had a temperature of 38.3°C, and blood cultures grew P. multocida. The organism was sensitive to penicillin, and the patient had a prompt response to treatment with intravenous penicillin G.

P. multocida occurs in the respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts of many domestic and wild animals worldwide. It is perhaps the most common organism found in human wounds from bites by cats and dogs. This patient was cautioned to keep the cat away from his new catheter.

Hashim Majeed, M.D.
Abraham Verghese, M.D.
Ragene R. Rivera, M.D.
Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, El Paso, TX 79905

Citing Articles (4)

Citing Articles

1. 1

   Mary S. Vondra, Joseph P. Myers. (2011) Pasteurella multocida Bacteremia. Infectious Diseases in Clinical Practice 19:3, 197-203
   CrossRef

2. 2

   Barbara J. Bryant, Cathy Conry-Cantilena, Alice Ahlgren, Anthony Felice, David F. Stroncek, Joan Gibble, Susan F. Leitman. (2007) Pasteurella multocida bacteremia in asymptomatic plateletpheresis donors: a tale of two cats. Transfusion 47:11, 1984-1989
   CrossRef

3. 3

   Joel E Mortensen, Olarae Giger, Gail L Rodgers. (1998) In Vitro Activity of Oral Antimicrobial Agents Against Clinical Isolates of Pasteurella multocida. Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease 30:2, 99-102
   CrossRef

4. 4

   John N. Greene. (1996) CATHETER-RELATED COMPLICATIONS OF CANCER THERAPY. Infectious Disease Clinics of North America 10:2, 255-295
   CrossRef