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Verify: Can dog saliva cause a bacterial infection?

A Wisconsin man had to have his limbs amputated due to an infection in June of this year and the bacteria he contracted is from something many people experience daily: being licked by a dog. In thi...

(NEWS 8) —A Wisconsin man had to have his limbs amputated due to an infection in June of this year and the bacteria he contracted is from something many people experience daily: being licked by a dog.

Greg Manteufel’s wife said his condition started with flu-like symptoms but escalated quickly and Greg was taken to a hospital just a day later. The hospital determined a life-threatening sepsis infection had set in and they didn't have the equipment needed to handle his bacteria-packed blood, according to Greg’s wife Dawn.

At another hospital 30 miles away, doctors determined Greg's leg muscles and hands were dying. They amputated his legs below the knees and removed the hands in a following surgery, after exhausting options to save them.

The cause of all of this: Bacteria from dog saliva that caused a rare blood infection, doctors told them.

In this Verify report, Brandon Hamilton explains the actual risk of becoming infected with this bacteria.

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