Letters Vol. 12. No. 1 65 Pasteurella stomatis Infection Following a Dog Bite Some of the most common bacterial pathogens associated with diseases in farm animals belong to the family Pasteurellaceae (1). Wound infections following animal bite or scratches are often due to Pasteurella multocida (2). To our knowledge, Pas- teurella stomatis has only exceptionally been in- volved in such cases, despite its normal presence in the pharynx, gums and tonsils of cats and dogs (3). We report a case of Pasteurella stomatis Wound infection following a dog bite. A 10-year-old boy was admitted to our hospital 12 hours after having been bitten on the leg by a dog. Physical examination revealed a superficial Wound of the internal side of the left leg, without erythema, swelling or regional adenopathy. No cultures were performed, and the wound was cleaned and sutured. The patient was discharged from hospital on a regimen of pyostacin (1.5 g/ day) for eight days, Seven days after the initiation of treatment, he was readmitted with a tender, erythematous, swollen area of 10 cm diameter around the dog bite wound, and with sanguineous discharge from the lesion. He was afebrile. Surgi- cal debridement was performed and purulent material was taken for bacteriological culture. The wound was cleaned, but not sutured. Metro- nidazole (750 rag/day) and ampicillin (1 g/day) were given and the infection finally resolved a few days later. No organisms were seen on a gram-stained preparation, but a scanty growth of gram-nega- tive bacilli after 24 hours of incubation on choco- late agar and selective medium (4) was later iden- tified as Pasteurella stomatis. The organisms had positive reactions for oxidase, catalase, indole, nitrate reduction, acid formation from glucose, galactose, mannose, sucrose and trehalose, and negative reactions for ornithine decarboxylase and acid production from maltose and mannitol, which were all typical for Pasteurella stomatis (5, 6). The identity was confirmed by W. Frederik- sen, Statens Seruminstitut, Copenhagen, Den- mark. The strain was sensitive to ampicillin, piperacillin, cephalothin, cefotaxime, gentamicin, tetracycline and quinolone. The anaerobic cul- ture was negative. Pasteurella stomatis has only recently been dif- ferentiated from other species of Pasteurella (5). This bacteria occurs in the respiratory tracts of cats and dogs, but is an uncommon pathogen in bite wounds involving these animals. To our knowledge, this is the first welt documented case of Pasteurella stomatis infection. Bisgaard et al. (6), in their reinvestigation of a collection of 56 human isolates of Pasteurellaceae, reclassified one strain of Pasteurella multocida as Pasteurella stomatis. According to phenotypic characteristics listed by Sakazaki et al. (7) for 38 human isolates of Pasteurella multocida, three so-called dog type strains should be reclassified as Pasteurella stornatis (6). Incorrect identification may have contributed to a slightly underestimated frequen- cy of isolation of Pasteurella stomatis. As more laboratories identify Pasteurella to the species level using recently recommended methods (5), it is likely that Pasteurella stomatis will be recog- nized more frequently in wound infections result- ing from dog or cat bites. E PouSdras 1. P.Y. Donnio 1 Y. Le Tulzo 2 J.L. Avril 1 Laboratoire de Bact6riologie et Virologie, and 2Scrvice de R6animation M6dicale et Maladies Infectieuses, H6pital Universitaire Pontehaillou, Rue Henri Le Guil- loux, 35033 Rennes, France. References 1. Biberstein EL: Haemophilus-Pasteurella-Actinobacil- lus: their significance in veterinary medicine. In: Kilian M, Frederiksen W, Biberstein EL (ed): Haemophilus, Pasteurella, and Actinobaeitlus. Academic Press, Lon- don, 1981, p. 57-76. 2. Goidstein EJC: Bite wounds and infection. Clinical Infectious Diseases 1992, 14: 633-640. 3. Smith JE: The aerobic bacteria of the nose and tonsils of healthy dogs. Journal of Comparative Pathology 1961, 71: 428-433. 4. Avril JL, Donnio PY, PouiMras P: Selective medium for Pasteurella multocida and its use to detect oropharyngeal carriage in pig breeders. Journal of Clinical Microbiology 1990, 28: 1438-1440. 5. Mutters R, lhm P, Pohl S, Frederiksen W, Mannheim W: Reclassification of the genus Pasteurella Trevisan 1887 on the basis of deoxyribonucleic acid homology, with proposals for the new species Pasteurella dag- matis, Pasteurellacanis, Pasteurellastomatis, Pasteurel- la anatis, and Pasteurella longaa. International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology 1985, 35: 309-322. 6. Bisgaard M, Falsen E: Reinvestigation and reclassifica- tion of a collection of 56 human isolates of Pasteurel- laceae. Acta Pathologica et Microbiologica et Im- munologica Scandinavica (B) 1986, 94: 215-222. 7. Sakazaki R~ Yoshizaka E, Tamura K, Karamochi S: Increased frequency of isolation of Pasteurella and Ac- tinobacillus species and related organisms. European Journal of Clinical Microbiology 1984, 3: 244-248.