Baker A S, Ruoff K L, Madoff S
Infectious Diseases Service, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, USA.
Clin Infect Dis. 1998 Nov;27(5):1168-70. doi: 10.1086/514980.
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.
海豹指（斑点指）的病原体尚不清楚。海豹指发生在被海豹咬伤之后，症状包括剧痛、肿胀、流脓，在某些情况下还会累及关节。在海豹病流行期间支原体的发现促使人们尝试将海豹指与支原体联系起来。从一名被海豹咬伤的水族馆驯兽师手指标本以及咬人的海豹的门牙标本培养物中分离出了支原体。这两种支原体分离株在生化特性上相同；它们依赖血清并能水解精氨酸。这些分离株对四环素敏感但对红霉素耐药。通过生长抑制试验和免疫荧光抗体试验，这两个菌株均被鉴定为海豹脑支原体，一种在波罗的海发生的海豹病流行中分离出的支原体。患者的感染用四环素治疗成功。据我们所知，这是第一例支原体与海豹指相关的病例。
