A man is thought to have become seriously ill as a result of his dog’s affection but he’s proved his love for the pit bull as he refuses to give her up.
Greg Manteufel, from Wisconsin, believed he was coming down with the flu when he experienced a fever, vomiting and diarrhea in June last year. However, when he was taken into hospital doctors found he was suffering from something more severe.
After doing blood cultures, medics discovered capnocytophaga, a germ which in turn caused sepsis, a severe blood infection which made Greg’s blood pressure drop and many of his organs shut down.
See the 49-year-old talk about his ordeal below:
Capnocytophaga is commonly found in the saliva of cats and dogs and almost never leads to people getting sick, unless they have a compromised immune system. Although Greg had been around a number of dogs, including his own, before he got ill with the germ he was perfectly healthy.
According to TIME, doctors at Greg’s hospital, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, had no explanation as to why the 49-year-old reacted so severely.
Greg asked doctors to do whatever they could to keep him alive. The husband and father went on to have more than 20 surgeries, including amputations of his left and right arms just below the elbow, and both legs through the middle of the knee.
Greg, a house painter, remained determined and optimistic throughout his ordeal and made quick advancements with his prosthetic limbs, encouraged by the thought of getting home to his wife and son, as well as his pup, Ellie.
Even though the pit bull may carry capnocytophaga – and therefore may have been the cause of his illness – Greg said he will not get rid of her.
Speaking to TIME, he explained:
We didn’t even bother testing her. We weren’t going to get rid of her if it was her that caused it anyway.
We just love her to death.
In the last 10 years, there have been at least five other healthy people who have had severe reactions to the germ.
Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, connected to Harvard Medical School, as well as Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center have been investigating cases like Greg’s to try and figure out the cause.
The team has done genetic testing on five otherwise healthy people who suffered capnocytophaga infections to see if they could find anything in common. They discovered all five had a gene connected to the immune system which was working differently – a genetic variant.
In August, the team approached Greg to ask him to take part in the study. The 49-year-old agreed, and the results of his genetic tests are expected in three to four months.
Researchers believe the genetic variant makes people more susceptible to developing severe medical problems from capnocytophaga. They are also trying to determine if there are other risk factors and while they still need to gather more evidence they hope to publish their study in the next 18 months.
Speaking to Fox News, as per People, Greg said he does not want people to be scared of their dogs because of what happened to him. He emphasised he couldn’t wait to get out of the hospital to see Ellie and told TIME he and his wife love the dog ‘like she’s our daughter’.
The dog lover is now adjusting to life with prosthetics; he plans to get his car altered so he can drive again and he’s also considering going back to work as a house painter. Whenever he’s at home, though, Ellie is always by his side.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to story@unilad.com.
Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.