Atypical endocarditis due to gram-negative bacillus transmitted by dog bite.

A case of subacute bacterial endocarditis presenting with hemoptysis and late onset of cardiac murmurs, in the absence of pyrexia, was reported. The causative agent was a fastidious, slow-growing, unclassified, gram-negative bacterium, DF-2 (decarboxylase fermenter-2), apparently transmitted by a dog bite. The absence of classic signs of bacterial endocarditis poses a diagnostic challenge and stresses the need for an awareness of atypical presentations of subacute bacterial endocarditis.