Microbiology of Animal Bites

While animal interaction is largely a rewarding human endeavor, every year millions of people are bitten by animals, and most of these bites are inflicted by dogs and cats. While most of the bites do not require medical attention, some progress to a local soft tissue infection at the site of the injury. Like most cutaneous wound infections, the resultant infection is typically a polymicrobial mix consisting of common environmental organisms. However, a multitude of species-specific, soft tissue zoonoses are spread through animal bites. The pathogenic organisms may exist as normal salivary flora or may be present as part of a symptomatic or even asymptomatic infection in the animal. We concisely review the soft tissue infections caused by several species-specific pathogens transmitted through animal bites, with focus on dogs and cats, as they are by far the most commonly implicated species in human bite wounds.