The disease contracted by the man, who was admitted to Red Cross Hospital in Bremen, Germany, was due to the bacterium capnocytophaga canimorsus. It's found most commonly in the mouths of cats and dogs, and is transmitted to humans in rare cases, usually through an animal bite.

The most susceptible are those who suffer from immunodeficiency, splenectomy or alcohol abuse, but the report notes that the patient didn't suffer from those conditions.

In this case, the man had also not been bitten.

Instead, he was only licked by his pet during the weeks before he was admitted to the hospital.

When the man arrived at the Red Cross Hospital, he reported severe symptoms for three days, such as an elevated temperature and difficulty breathing (dyspnoea). The day before, a rash had also appeared on his face (petechiae), to go along with nerve and muscle pain in his legs, which was the cause of subcutaneous bleeding. 

Without a headache or neck stiffness, the medical team couldn't diagnose meningitis. But it did diagnose him with sepsis, a blood infection, and purpura fulminans, which is a blood clotting disorder that leads to skin discoloration.

Doctors were able to identify the cause of the illness on the fourth day in care. But even with adjusted treatment, his condition grew worse, leading to multiple organ failures, as well as pneumonia. After 16 days of treatment, the patient died from multiple organ failures, according to the report.

Similar cases have recently been seen in the States.

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