Fatal rat bite fever in a pet shop employee

Shvartsblat, Steve; Kochie, Mary; Harber, Philip; Howard, John

doi:10.1002/ajim.10359

Cited by 30 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 4 publications

(7 reference statements)

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“…Zoophilic dermatophyte infections are rarely serious, generally self-limiting and respond well to treatment [15]. In contrast, two articles describing infection with rat bite fever ( Streptobacillus moniliformis or Spirillum minus ) were identified by the review [16], [17], one of which occurred in a pet shop employee and resulted in his death. Rat bite fever has a mortality rate of up to 13% in untreated cases [18].…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Healthy Animals, Healthy People: Zoonosis Risk from Animal Contact in Pet Shops, a Systematic Review of the Literature

et al. 2014

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BackgroundAround 67 million pets are owned by households in the United Kingdom, and an increasing number of these are exotic animals. Approximately a third of pets are purchased through retail outlets or direct from breeders. A wide range of infections can be associated with companion animals.ObjectivesThis study uses a systematic literature review to describe the transmission of zoonotic disease in humans associated with a pet shop or other location selling pets (incidents of rabies tracebacks and zoonoses from pet food were excluded).Data sourcesPubMed and EMBASE.ResultsFifty seven separate case reports or incidents were described in the 82 papers that were identified by the systematic review. Summary information on each incident is included in this manuscript. The infections include bacterial, viral and fungal diseases and range in severity from mild to life threatening. Infections associated with birds and rodents were the most commonly reported. Over half of the reports describe incidents in the Americas, and three of these were outbreaks involving more than 50 cases. Many of the incidents identified relate to infections in pet shop employees.LimitationsThis review may have been subject to publication bias, where unusual and unexpected zoonotic infections may be over-represented in peer-reviewed publications. It was also restricted to English-language articles so that pathogens that are more common in non-Western countries, or in more exotic animals not common in Europe and the Americas, may have been under-represented.Conclusions/implicationsA wide spectrum of zoonotic infections are acquired from pet shops. Salmonellosis and psittacosis were the most commonly documented diseases, however more unusual infections such as tularemia also appeared in the review. Given their potential to spread zoonotic infection, it is important that pet shops act to minimise the risk as far as possible.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Healthy Animals, Healthy People: Zoonosis Risk from Animal Contact in Pet Shops, a Systematic Review of the Literature

et al. 2014

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“…Furthermore, species speciWcity is a major concern of any biological agent. S. moniliformis is potentially pathogenic to humans (Graves and Janda 2001;Shvartsblat et al 2004;Washburn 2000), koala (Russell and Straube 1979), turkeys (Mohamed et al 1969) and guinea-pigs (Fleming 1976). The welfare of animals suVering streptobacillary infection is another major concern (Broom 1999).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does streptobacillary arthritis reduce house mouse population density, activity and damage to sorghum crops?

Kaboodvandpour

Leung

2007

J Pest Sci

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An experiment to examine the eVect of streptobacillary arthritis on mouse populations was conducted in maturing sorghum crops in mouse-proofed pens. There were three treatment pens and three control pens in which mice with and without clinical signs of streptobacillary arthritis were introduced, respectively. A constant mouse density (533 mice ha ¡1 ) was introduced to the pens by releasing 12 mice in each pen. The sex ratio of introduced mice was also constant by releasing in each pen nine males and three females. Mean track index was lower in treatment pens than in control pens, indicating that streptobacillary arthritis reduced the activity of mice. However, this was not translated into a reduction in other population responses. Mean mouse density at harvest, percentage of female pregnant at harvest, yield loss caused by mice and a feeding index (oil card index) did not diVer signiWcantly between treatment and control groups. A plausible explanation for these Wndings was that mice with the clinical signs might be less active but were able to consume as much grains as mice without the clinical signs because food was in abundant supply.

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“…They are typically transmitted via bites or scratches, although transmission via contact with other rodents, dogs, and cats have also been reported [1, 2]. Reports of transmission in the absence of known bites or scratches are increasing [2, 5]. Typical nontraumatic exposure is via contact with rat saliva, urine, or feces [1].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Streptobacillus moniliformis Bacteremia in a Pet Shop Employee: Case Report and Literature Review

Suzuki

Hirai

Morita

et al. 2017

Open Forum Infectious Diseases

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A 39-year-old pet shop employee who sustained a bite from one of his store’s rats developed fever and arthritis. Streptobacillus moniliformis was cultured from the patient’s blood, confirming a diagnosis of rat-bite fever. Treatment with standard antibiotics was successful. Although rat-bite fever is commonly considered a zoonosis transmitted by wild or laboratory rats, our case emphasizes that it may be transmitted by pet animals as well.

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Fatal rat bite fever in a pet shop employee

Abstract: Zoonotic infections may present a significant hazard to workers handling animals. Education on hazards of animal contact and other preventive measures are needed in small places of business like pet shops.

Cited by 30 publications

References 4 publications

Healthy Animals, Healthy People: Zoonosis Risk from Animal Contact in Pet Shops, a Systematic Review of the Literature

Healthy Animals, Healthy People: Zoonosis Risk from Animal Contact in Pet Shops, a Systematic Review of the Literature

Does streptobacillary arthritis reduce house mouse population density, activity and damage to sorghum crops?

Streptobacillus moniliformis Bacteremia in a Pet Shop Employee: Case Report and Literature Review

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