Seal finger, also known as sealer's finger and spekkfinger (from the Norwegian for "blubber"),[2] is an infection that afflicts the fingers of seal hunters and other people who handle seals, as a result of bites or contact with exposed seal bones;[citation needed] it has also been contracted by exposure to untreated seal pelts.[citation needed] The State of Alaska Section of Epidemiology defines it as "a finger infection associated with bites, cuts, or scratches contaminated by the mouths, blood, or blubber of certain marine mammals".[3]
| Seal finger | |
|---|---|
| Other names | spekkfinger, salen i fingret (Norwegian); salrota (Baltic languages) ('in the Gulf of Finland')[1] |
| Specialty | Infectious Disease |
| Causes | Contact with seals or other pinnipeds |
| Treatment | Large doses of antibiotics, including tetracycline; previously amputation |
Seal finger was first described scientifically in 1907.[4][5] It can cause cellulitis, joint inflammation, and swelling of the bone marrow; untreated, the course of "seal finger" is slow and results often in thickened contracted joint.[3] Historically, seal finger was treated by amputation of the affected digits once they became unusable.[5][6] Ariana Bindman, for SFGATE in 2023, reported that "for hundreds of years, fishers long feared contracting" it due to amputation; in present day, seal finger is more commonly an "affliction among biologists, veterinarians and scuba divers".[6]
The precise nature of the organism responsible for seal finger is unknown, as it has resisted culturing because most cases are promptly treated with antibiotics;[3] however, as seal finger can be treated with tetracycline or similar antibiotics, the causative organism is most likely bacterial.[7] In 1991, there was the first reported association of Mycoplasma with seal finger following a trainer sustaining a seal bite at the New England Aquarium.[7][5] In 1998, Baker, Ruoff, and Madoff showed that the organism is most likely a species of Mycoplasma called Mycoplasma phocacerebrale.[7] This Mycoplasma was isolated in an epidemic of seal disease occurring in the Baltic Sea.[8]
Notes
edit- ^ White, Colin P.; Jewer, David D. (Winter 2009). "Seal finger: A case report and review of the literature". Canadian Journal of Plastic Surgery. 17 (4): 133–5. doi:10.1177/229255030901700415. PMC 2827281. PMID 21119845.
- ^ Seal Finger, from Alaska Science Forum (article #335), by T. Neil Davis; published August 24, 1979; archived at the University of Alaska Fairbanks; retrieved August 18, 2011
- ^ a b c Seal Finger - An enigma and a challenge; State of Alaska Epidemiology Bulletin #17; published August 5, 1983; retrieved August 18, 2011.
- ^ Rodahl, Kåare (December 1952). ""Spekk-Finger" or Sealer's Finger" (PDF). Arctic. 5 (4): 235–40. doi:10.14430/arctic3915. JSTOR 40506548. Archived (PDF) from the original on 5 August 2019. Retrieved 18 August 2011 – via the University of Calgary.
- ^ a b c White, Colin P; Jewer, David D (2009). "Seal finger: A case report and review of the literature". The Canadian Journal of Plastic Surgery. 17 (4): 133–135. doi:10.1177/229255030901700415. ISSN 1195-2199. PMC 2827281. PMID 21119845.
- ^ a b Bindman, Ariana (March 24, 2023). "'Friendly' seal bites San Francisco man, sends him to hospital". SFGATE. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
- ^ a b c Baker, Ann Sullivan; Ruoff, Kathryn L.; Madoff, Sarabelle (November 1998). "Isolation of Mycoplasma Species from a Patient with Seal Finger". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 27 (5): 1168–70. doi:10.1086/514980. JSTOR 4481672. PMID 9827264.
- ^ Westley, Benjamin P.; Horazdovsky, Ryan D.; Michaels, Dina L.; Brown, Daniel R. (8 October 2015). "Identification of a Novel Mycoplasma Species in a Patient With Septic Arthritis of the Hip and Seal Finger". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 62 (4): 491–3. doi:10.1093/cid/civ875. PMID 26449564.
External links
edit- Working with Marine Mammals and Your Health, NOAA brochure on zoonoses, including seal finger. (requires Acrobat Reader (via archive.org))