Bacteremia due to streptococcus zooepidemicus associated with an abdominal aortic aneurysm

Group C streptococci are a common cause of infection in animals but a rare cause of infection in man. To our knowledge, the English literature contains only three cases of arteriosclerotic aneurysms of the abdominal aorta (AAA) secondarily infected with group C Beta-hemolytic Streptococci. Two cases did not survive in spite of adequate antibiotic therapy. One patient responded to aortic repair with a bifurcated woven dacron graft followed by four weeks of high-dose intravenous penicillin. This article describes our clinical experience with a patient who survived an atherosclerotic aneurysm of the abdominal aorta and S. zooepidemicus infection.