Abstract

ABSTRACTA healthy young man developed acute gastroenteritis after handling an infected boa constrictor. The animal died after contracting “mouth-rot disease,” a progressive ulcerative stomatitis of snakes characteristically caused by Aeromonas species. Stool cultures from the patient yielded a heavy growth of Aeromonas (Plesiomonas) shigelloides but no other enteric pathogens. Treatment with sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim resulted in rapid relief of clinical symptoms. Aeromonas species are not considered part of the normal human fecal flora and gastroenteritis due to this organism is rare. Furthermore, this case appears to represent a new zoonosis: human Aeromonas (Plesiomonas) gastroenteritis derived from contact with an infected animal host.