Type: Parasite
Name: Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae
Importance- to Body:
Cutaneous Infection
Distribution- in Body:
Skin; Subacute cellulitis most commonly on the fingertips. It is slightly raised and violaceous.
Epidemiology: Thin, pleomorphic, nonsporulating gram-positive rod
Food Sources:
Main host is swine, Lives in the mucoid exterior slime layer of fish
Environmental/Geographic Sources:
Diagonosis:
Microbiologic cultures
Treatment:
Resolves in 3 to 4 weeks without treatment. If treatment is needed, most strains susceptible to penicillins, cephalosporins, clindamycin, imipenem, and ciprofloxacin. Antibiotic duration usually 2 weeks. if necessary.
Supplemental information:
Source: Cutaneous Manifestations Of Waterborne Infections by: Lucinda Elko, MD, RPh, Keith Rosenbach, MD, PhD*, and John Sinnott, MD