Cat cuddler's cough.

Pasteurella multocida typically causes cutaneous infections in humans following animal bites or scratches. Primary pulmonary disease, however, can occur in humans after inhalation of airborne particles or by aspiration of colonized or infected nasopharyngeal secretions containing this organism. Symptoms of P. multocida pulmonary infection in humans are variable, ranging from cough with or without hemoptysis to severe prostration. P. multocida infection of the lower respiratory tree has a predilection for elderly patients with underlying lung pathology, especially chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and bronchiectasis. This report reminds the clinician that P. multocida can cause pulmonary infection in patients without underlying lung disease, and stresses the importance of careful history when presented with an indolent infection.