Pasteurella multocida arthritis. Case report

Pasteurella multocida is a common cause of hemorrhagic septicemia in many animal species, and it can infect humans secondary to a scratch or a bite from a pet. However, involvement of bones or joints, or both, is distinctly unusual because hematogenous dissemination of the organism in humans is rare. Skeletal involvement has been reported in only twelve patients to date. Over an eight-month period, the authors observed two cases of Pasteurella multocida arthritis related to bites from pets, and in the one they are reporting there was involvement of a prosthetic joint. The other case (not being reported in detail) involved the knee of a patient who also had carcinoma of the lung with metastases as well as gout. The complicating circumstances in the case of the latter patient obscured the effects of the Pasteurella infection.