If patients present with flu-like symptoms and bruising, it’s worth asking them about pets, based on the case of a man who died from sepsis after being infected with bacteria when licked by his dog.

Doctors from the Red Cross Hospital in Bremen, Germany, have reported the case of a 63-year-old previously healthy man who died from multiorgan failure due to sepsis caused by Capnocytphaga canimorsus, which is usually transmitted through dog bites rather than licks.