There has been an increased awareness in recent years of Pasteurella pseudotuberculosis as a cause of human disease. Two basic forms of the infection have been noted, an often fatal septicemic form and a more benign acute mesenteric lymphadenitis. Most recent reports are concerned with the latter.1,2 We had the opportunity of seeing two patients with the septicemic form, one of whom survived with treatment.
Patient Summaries
Patient 1.
—A 64-year-old retired Marine Corps officer was admitted to the hospital April 1969 because of abdominal pain, fever, and chills for the previous month. Two weeks prior to admission he had noted the onset of diarrhea. He was treated with penicillin with no relief. Two days prior to admission he noted increasing abdominal girth and peripheral edema. He denied alcoholism, any exposure to toxins, or any drug ingestion.On admission the patient was icteric, his blood pressure was 150/80 mm