Pasteurella canis is a Gram-negative, nonmotile, penicillin-sensitive coccobacillus of the family Pasteurellaceae. Bacteria from this family cause zoonotic infections in humans, which manifest themselves as skin or soft-tissue infections after an animal bite. It has been known to cause serious disease in immunocompromised patients. Pasteurella was first described around 1880 and thought to be associated with chicken cholera and hemorrhagic septicemia in animals. The genus was first cultured in 1885. In 1920, strains of Pasteurella were isolated and observed in human infections.