Gabriele Giuliano, Manuel Crispo, Michele Trezzi, Francesco Santoro, Margherita Sambo, Francesca Montagnani, Maria Grazia Cusi, Mario Tumbarello
Loxosceles spp. bites can occasionally lead to systemic loxoscelism, including hemolysis and severe systemic illness. Secondary bacterial infections after spider bites are rarely reported and usually limited to skin commensals. We describe a patient with violin spider (Loxosceles rufescens) bite complicated by Capnocytophaga canimorsus sepsis, an emerging zoonotic pathogen classically linked to dog and cat bites. Blood cultures confirmed the infection, although subsequent non-viability of the isolate precluded antimicrobial susceptibility testing and genomic characterization. This case highlights diagnostic pitfalls, the under-recognized zoonotic role of arthropods, the need for culture-independent methods and a One Health perspective on antimicrobial resistance.