horse bites or bite

Last reviewed 02/2023

• actinobacillus spp, staphylococci, streptococci, Pasteurella spp and anaerobes may occur as a result of horse, donkey, pig and sheep bites
• ferret bites can cause severe injuries - they may also be contaminated by S. aureus
• bat bites can transmit rabies
• camel bites tend to be especially heavily infected with Pseudomonas, Staphylococcus and Streptococcus spp, and Clostridium tetani
• seal bites may present similarly to other mammal bites - however seal bites can also give rise to the intensely painful 'seal finger'; this presents with swelling and blistering at the site of injury and is thought to be due to infection with a Mycoplasma organism
• monkey bites are more often infected than other animal bites
  • common infections resulting from monkey bites include Bacteroides spp, Fusobacterium spp, streptococci, enterococci and Eikenella corrodens
  • simian herpes virus (Herpesvirus simiae or herpes B virus) is, rarely, transmitted by bites from monkeys of the Macaca genus, which is native to Asia and northern Africa. Simian herpes virus can give rise to a rapidly progressive encephalomyelitis in infected people, with a mortality of around 70%
  • if the bite is from a macaque monkey, and so could have transmitted simian herpes virus, advice should be sought from a clinical virologist or from the Health Protection Agency
  • wounds from macaque monkey bites should be soaked or scrubbed for at least 15 minutes with soap or detergent, or, if mucosal surfaces are involved, irrigated for 15 minutes with sterile saline or rapidly flowing water
  • for asymptomatic patients who have potentially been exposed to simian herpes virus, advice from a clinical virologist should be sought on whether they need prophylactic antiviral therapy with aciclovir
    • if a patient has been established simian herpes virus infection then they should be treated with aciclovir

   

For bites where rabies or simian herpes virus exposure are considered a risk, specialist advice should be sought.

Reference:

1. Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin (2004);42:65-72.