Abstract

A 40-year-old man presented to his primary care physician with a constellation of systemic symptoms and new biofilm forming along his upper airway. He had brought home a deer 10 days prior from a day of hunting, and discovered green purulent material oozing from the entrance/exit wounds. The patient smokes cigarettes and did not use any protective equipment or wash his hands between dressing the deer and smoking. Several days following exposure, he became increasingly short of breath, fatigued, constipated and developed a cough productive of orange sputum. Speaking with state wildlife biologists led to the diagnosis of a zoonotic Trueperella pyogenes infection. Initial treatment with broad spectrum antibiotics was ineffective in resolving the infection. An infectious disease appointment was made, but the patient’s infection resolved with the use of a veterinarian antibiotic taken under physician’s supervision.