This microorganism is a potential pathogen for both humans and animals.
Most human cases occur in patients with debilitating disease or in prenatal or neonatal infants.
Sepsis, meningitis, and disseminated abscesses occur in infected patients. Meat, vegetables, and various milk products are the most common sources of infection. This species is transmitted occasionally from infected pigs to farmers or veterinarians, in whom it causes primarily inflammatory infections of the skin. Septicemia and endocarditis may develop secondarily. A common inhabitant of the crypts of the skin, this species may contribute to acne.