Woman Has Limbs Amputated After Contracting Infection From Dog Saliva

A woman in Ohio had to get her limbs partially amputated due to complications from interacting with her own dogs’ saliva.

Marie Trainer was in a coma for 10 days and woke up to find her legs and arms had to be removed to stop the spread of gangrene. Doctors say that Trainer’s condition was caused by getting capnocytophaga in her bloodstream, a bacteria found in dog’s mouths.

“[It’s] fairly common in the oral flora or the mouth of a dog and it can be transmitted through a bite or sometimes just contact with saliva,” Dr. Margaret Kobe of Aultman Hospital where Trainer was treated told Cleveland’s Fox affiliate. “That organism is very virulent. It has the ability to induce your immune system to do some pretty horrible things.”

“Then I found out everything. Being in a coma for 10 days — having this thing,” she said. “It was very hard to find out that they had to remove my legs and my arms… very hard to cope with,” Trainer said. “My dog licked me… my dogs lick me all the time.”

Trainer went to the hospital after feeling ill and noticing that her body temperature was wildly fluctuating. While at the hospital, Trainer began developing sepsis an infection of the blood that can be deadly. The infection from the saliva had caused blood clotting throughout her limbs that necessitated the amputations. 

The reaction Trainer had is exceptionally rare, according to Kobe. She said that about 1 in a million people will suffer from exposure to the bacteria.