A Wisconsin man was preparing for additional surgeries after having part of his legs and forearms amputated because of a dog lick that led to a rare blood infection, his wife has said. Greg Manteufel, 48, has been hospitalised since late June, when he went to a Milwaukee-area hospital with flu-like symptoms. He was in good spirits despite having undergone seven surgeries so far, his wife, Dawn Manteufel, told The Associated Press yesterday. She said her husband was heading into the operating room again yesterday and still had three more surgeries to go, but that he was looking forward to being fitted for prosthetic limbs.

"He's happy to be here. He said he didn't come this far to cry about it and say, 'Why me?'" she said. Her husband was diagnosed with a blood infection caused by capnocytophaga, bacteria that is common in the saliva of cats and dogs but almost never leads to illness, said Dr Silvia Munoz-Price, an epidemiologist with Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin, where Manteufel is being treated. The doctor said animal lovers have no need to panic: They're more likely to die in a car accident than to be infected by the bacteria.