Pasteurella multocida Bacteremia in a Patient With Chronic Liver Disease

Pasteurella multocida is a non-spore forming gram-negative organism characterized morphologically as coccobacillus. It is frequently isolated from the nasopharynx of domestic and wild animals, and is the most common cause of soft-tissue infection in humans following bites or scratches from dogs and cats. It is easily overgrowth by other flora in the sputum and may be regularly overlook, as it resembles Haemophilus influenzae, Francisella tularensis, and Yersinia pestis. The five species that cause the majority of pasteurellosis are: multocida, septica, canis, stomatis, and dagmatis. Pasteurella multocida is infrequently encounter in clinical settings, although it can cause disease in humans primarily through contact with animals or their mucous secretions. Furthermore, Pasteurella multocida serves as an opportunistic pathogen in humans, especially in those with depressed immune system. In this report, and after extensive literature review, the authors described a patient with septic shock resulting from Pasteurella multocida bacteremia without prior history of animal exposure.