Woman contracts deadly disease when dog licks her face Tweet email

A 70-year-old woman was admitted to the emergency room with seizures and organ failure after contracting blood poisoning after her Italian greyhound licked her face.

The saliva transferred from the pooch smooch resulted in blood poisonings in the unique case confirmed in the BMJ Case Reports medical journal.

Sepsis derives from the bacteria, Capnocytophaga canimorsus, and is normally transferred through dog bites.

According to the National Institute of Health if sepsis develops into septic shock there is a potential mortality rate of 50%.

“The prevalence of contracting sepsis from a dog lick is rare,” said Dr. Scott Simon, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine at the Animal Hospital of Chelsea. “However it’s important that owners don’t intentionally exchange saliva with their dogs especially if they are undergoing chemo therapy, have AIDS, are pregnant or are elderly.”

According to Dr. Simon, your dog is more likely to give you ringworm, scabies or parasites.

After four days of intravenous antibiotics and months of thyroid hormone replacement and outpatient treatment the woman has been symptom free for about a year.