Section: USMLE

13) A letter carrier is severely bitten by a pit bull guarding a junkyard. The wound is cleansed, and the letter carrier receives a booster injection of tetanus toxoid and an injection of penicillin G. Several days later, the wound is inflamed and purulent. The exudate is cultured on blood agar and yields gram-negative rods. Antibiotic sensitivity tests are pending. The most likely agent to be isolated is

1. Bartonella henselae
2. Brucella canis
3. Clostridium tetani
4. Pasteurella multocida
5. Toxocara canis

Pasteurella multocida is a gram-negative rod that is normal flora of the oral cavity of dogs and cats. It often causes a local abscess following introduction under the skin by an animal bite. Most cases occur in children who are injured while playing with a pet.

Bartonella henselae is a very small, gram-negative bacterium that is closely related to the rickettsia, although it is able to grow on lifeless media. It is the cause of cat-scratch disease (a local, chronic lymphadenitis most commonly seen in children) and bacillary angiomatosis (seen particularly in AIDS patients). In this latter patient population, the organism causes proliferation of blood and lymphatic vessels causing a characteristic “mulberry” lesion in the skin and subcutaneous tissues of the afflicted individual.

Brucella canis is a gram-negative rod that is a zoonotic agent. Its normal host is the dog. When it gains access to humans, however, it causes an undulating febrile disease with malaise, lymphadenopathy and hepatosplenomegaly. The normal route of exposure is via ingestion of the organism.

Clostridium tetani is a gram-positive spore-forming anaerobic rod. It causes tetanus [a spastic paralysis caused by tetanospasmin, which blocks the release of the inhibitory neurotransmitters glycine and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)]. There may be no lesion at the site of inoculation, and exudation would be extremely rare.

Toxocara canis, a common intestinal parasite of dogs, is a metazoan parasite that causes visceral larva migrans. Young children are most likely to be affected, as they are most likely to ingest soil contaminated with eggs of the parasite.