Isolation of Mycoplasma species from a patient with seal finger

Clin Infect Dis. 1998 Nov;27(5):1168-70. doi: 10.1086/514980.

Abstract

The etiologic agent of seal finger (speck finger) is unknown. Seal finger occurs after a seal bite, and the symptoms include acute pain, swelling, discharge, and, in some cases, there is joint involvement. The discovery of Mycoplasma species in epidemics of seal disease prompted attempts to link seal finger to mycoplasma. Mycoplasma species were isolated in cultures of a specimen from the finger of an aquarium trainer who was bitten by a seal and of a specimen from the front teeth of the biting seal. The two Mycoplasma isolates were identical biochemically; they were serum-dependent and hydrolyzed arginine. The isolates were susceptible to tetracycline but resistant to erythromycin. By growth inhibition and immunofluorescent antibody tests, both strains were identified as Mycoplasma phocacerebrale, a mycoplasma isolated in an epidemic of seal disease occurring in the Baltic Sea. The patient's infection was treated successfully with tetracycline. To our knowledge, this is the first case in which a mycoplasma has been associated with seal finger.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anti-Bacterial Agents / therapeutic use
  • Bites and Stings / diagnosis
  • Bites and Stings / drug therapy
  • Bites and Stings / microbiology*
  • Female
  • Finger Injuries / microbiology*
  • Fingers / microbiology
  • Humans
  • Mycoplasma / classification
  • Mycoplasma / isolation & purification*
  • Mycoplasma Infections / diagnosis
  • Mycoplasma Infections / drug therapy
  • Mycoplasma Infections / microbiology*
  • Mycoplasma Infections / transmission
  • Seals, Earless* / microbiology
  • Tetracycline / therapeutic use
  • Tooth / microbiology

Substances

  • Anti-Bacterial Agents
  • Tetracycline