The authors studied the bacterial flora of the dog oral cavity and of bite wounds, Aerobic bac-
teria were isolated from mouth swabs of 16 normal and 5 rabid dogs as well as from infected dog-bite
wounds from 18 patients. A total of 20 different microbial species were recovered from mouth swab
cultures. The most frequently isolated organisms were
Klebsiella pneumoniae
ssp
pneumoniae, Esche-
richia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Citrobacter freundii, Enterobacter cloacae, Acinetobacter calco-
aceticus,
and
Pasteurella
species. There were no differences in the aerobic bacterial flora between rabid
and non-rabid dogs. From the cultures of the bite wound swabs, the authors found that almost all of the
organisms identified were part of the normal oral flora of the dog. One or more aerobic bacteria were
isolated from the infected dog-bite wounds. Two patients had four, 3 had three, 4 had two, and 6 had
one of the nine organisms in their wounds. The predominant species of bacteria involved in infection
of bite wounds were, as follows:
Staphylococcus aureus, Pasteurella multocida, E. coli, Moraxella
species,
Pasteurella canis,
and
Enterobacter cloacae.
However, three wound cultures had no aerobic
bacterial growth. The results of this study show that the infected bite wounds may contain a mixed
bacterial flora that colonize human skin and the oral cavity of dogs.