Illustration of Pasteurella multocida, a Gram-negative, non-motile, penicillin-sensitive coccobacillus belonging to the Pasteurellaceae family. Pasteurella multocida is the cause of a range of diseases in mammals and birds including fowl cholera in poultry, atrophic rhinitis in pigs and bovine haemorrhagic septicaemia in cattle and buffalo. It can also cause a zoonotic infection in humans, which typically is a result of bites or scratches from domestic pets. Many mammals and birds harbour it as part of their normal respiratory microbiota including domestic cats.