This summer, Greg Manteufel of West Bend, Wisconsin, got very sick with a life-threatening infection. Manteufel started feeling ill in June. Just hours after going to the hospital he went into septic shock. Septic shock is the worst complication of sepsis, a body-wide crisis that can be triggered by an infection. In sepsis, germs trigger a cascade of immune system reactions that can lead to plummeting blood pressure, organ failure, tissue damage, and death. The drop in blood circulation can damage organs and affect the limbs, sometimes leading to amputations to remove the dead tissue. Some of the symptoms of sepsis are shivering, fever, feeling cold, extreme pain, sleepiness, confusion, clammy skin, shortness of breath, or feeling like you might die, according to the Sepsis Alliance. Manteufel had both feet amputated, then additional surgery to remove more damage, which extended the amputation to just below his kneecaps, according to a GoFundMe page set up to help his family cope during the crisis. He is scheduled for more surgery to remove parts of his hands and will need plastic surgery to reconstruct his nose, according to the page. Sepsis can happen to anyone who has an infection somewhere in their body, even in small wounds like an infected hangnail. However, it's most likely to happen in people 65 or older, children under age 1, and those with weakened immune systems or chronic medical conditions like diabetes, lung disease, cancer, and kidney problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About 1.5 million people in the US get sepsis every year, and 250,000 people die of it.<doc-sep>Share this Story: 'The lick of death': The shocking reason this man's legs and hands were amputated? Dog saliva 'The lick of death': The shocking reason this man's legs and hands were amputated? Dog saliva Greg Manteufel suffered a rare blood infection after harmful bacteria from a dog's saliva seeped into his bloodstream, causing sepsis Photo by Dawn Manteufel Article content Greg Manteufel’s symptoms began with fever and vomiting, as if he had the flu. But by the following morning, he was delirious, and his temperature had soared. His wife rushed him to the hospital, a quick drive from their Wisconsin home. Once they arrived, Dawn Manteufel said she noticed bruises — several of them, all over his body — that weren’t there when they left their house just five minutes earlier. To Dawn, it was as if her husband had just been beaten with a baseball bat. We apologize, but this video has failed to load. tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or 'The lick of death': The shocking reason this man's legs and hands were amputated? Dog saliva Back to video Within a week at the hospital, the 48-year-old who paints houses for a living and loves to ride his Harley-Davidson motorcycle lost his legs. And then his hands. Greg Manteufel suffered a rare blood infection after harmful bacteria from a dog’s saliva seeped into his bloodstream, causing sepsis, or blood poisoning from bacteria. The sepsis resulted in blood spots that looked like bruises all over his body, particularly on his chest and face. Doctors pumped him with antibiotics to stop the infection, his wife said, but clots blocked the flow of blood to his extremities, causing tissue and muscles to die. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content The bacteria, called Capnocytophaga canimorsus, “just attacked him,” Dawn said, and it did so quickly and aggressively. To save his life, doctors had to cut his legs from the knee down, and then his hands. “Why him? Why did this happen to us?” Dawn asked. Capnocytophaga canimorsus is a bacteria commonly found in dogs and cats. It’s present in the saliva of most healthy dogs and is usually not harmful to humans. But in rare cases, the bacteria can poison the blood and cause death. He loves dogs. He would touch any dog; he doesn't care Dawn Manteufel said doctors told them her husband’s case is not common but more like a “crazy fluke.” She said she doesn’t know which dog was carrying the bacteria that attacked her husband. About the time he got sick, he had been around eight dogs, including one that belongs to the couple. The bacteria could have come from any of those dogs that licked him, Dawn said. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content “He loves dogs. He would touch any dog; he doesn’t care,” she said of her husband of 15 years. Greg Manteufel has been at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee for about a month. By late morning Tuesday, several doctors had gathered around his hospital bed, checking his vital signs and asking him questions, as he lay with his thighs propped up by a pillow, his wife told The Washington Post. He had just undergone a surgery to remove dead tissue and muscle from what is left of his lower extremities. This week, he will have two more, again to clean up dead tissue. He’s in good spirits, his wife said, aware of what he has lost but at peace that he must now live an entirely different life, sitting in a power wheelchair. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content “He told the doctors, ‘Do what you have to do to keep me alive,’ ” Dawn Manteufel said. “There’s no negativity from him so far . . . He said, ‘It is what it is, so we have to move forward.’ ” First, he must move back in with his parents, at least temporarily, because theirs is a one-level home where he can move around easily. Then his wife will sell their house in West Bend, Wisconsin, just north of Milwaukee, so they can buy a one-story house. He can no longer ride his Harley, or drive his stick-shift truck, or paint houses. There's no choice. We have no choice but to be positive and make the best of it His days in the hospital are also far from over. He may have to go through a reconstruction surgery for his nose, his wife said, because lack of blood flow caused it to turn black. Prosthetic limbs and more treatment at a rehabilitation centre still await him. A GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $30,000 as of Wednesday. Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Article content “There’s no choice. We have no choice but to be positive and make the best of it,” said Dawn Manteufel, who had used all her vacation days from her job as a correctional officer at Washington County Jail in West Bend. More On This Topic If you've ever thought of eating raw centipedes, don't. Seriously, don't do it Restaurant blasts customer for posting video of worm wriggling in a fish dinner Capnocytophaga canimorsus is commonly transmitted by dog bites and is usually life-threatening to people who suffer from alcoholism or are asplenic, meaning their spleens don’t function normally. Symptoms typically worsen rapidly. A case report published by the peer-reviewed medical journal BMJ recounted the story of an elderly woman who may have been licked by her household pet and later suffered sepsis and organ failure. The woman recovered after two weeks in an intensive-care unit, says the report, which aptly called the sepsis-causing bacteria the “lick of death.” Share this article in your social network Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Shopping essentials Advertisement Story continues below This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. NP Posted Sign up to receive the daily top stories from the National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Email Address There was an error, please provide a valid email address. By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300 Thanks for signing up! A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it please check your junk folder. The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox. We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again Trending<doc-sep>Greg Manteufel has been at Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee for about a month. By late morning Tuesday, several doctors had gathered around his hospital bed, checking his vital signs and asking him questions, as he lay with his thighs propped up by a pillow, his wife told The Washington Post. He had just undergone a surgery to remove dead tissue and muscle from what is left of his lower extremities. This week, he will have two more, again to clean up dead tissue.<doc-sep>
A Wisconsin man who needed to have his limbs amputated due to an infection likely contracted the bacteria from something many people experience daily -- being licked by a dog. A Wisconsin man has reportedly had both legs and hands amputated after he contracted a rare infection that his family says likely came from being licked by a dog. Greg Manteufel started feeling sick June 27 and went into septic shock, according to a GoFundMe account set up in his name. Doctors confirmed he contracted Capnocytophaga Canimorsus. Within days of being admitted to the hospital, Manteufel had both feet amputated. Later, doctors had to amputate through to the kneecaps. As the bacteria spread, Manteufel also had to have both hands amputated. The GoFundMe page said the damage also affected all areas of Manteufel's body and that he will need plastic surgery to rebuild his nose. "Greg pushes himself every day to do as much as he can to further his recovery," GoFundMe organizer Jason Marchand said in an updated post on July 17. According to The Washington Post, doctors told Manteufel's wife that the infection was not common and was a "crazy fluke." She said she didn't know which dog carried the bacteria, but that he had been around eight dogs at the time he got sick, including one that belongs to the couple. “He loves dogs. He would touch any dog; he doesn’t care,” she told the Post. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website says many types of Capnocytophaga are found in the mouths of humans, dogs, and cats. Up to 74 percent of dogs have the bacteria and 57 percent of cats have it. "These bacteria cause opportunistic infections, which means they have to have the right conditions to cause an infection, such as in a person with a weakened immune system," the CDC website says. "People with weakened immune systems include, for example, those who drink alcohol excessively, who have had their spleens removed, and who have HIV infection or cancer." It has not been reported whether Manteufel was dealing with any of those issues before he was infected. The CDC also says that although infections are usually associated with dog or cat bites, some people can develop the infection after close contact with one of those animals -- especially if in contact with a dog's saliva. Long-term effects can include amputation, heart attack, and kidney failure. The CDC says it's fatal in about 30 percent of people who get infected, sometimes within 72 hours of the onset of symptoms.