ERYSIPELOTHRIX ENDOCARDITIS: A COMPLICATION OF ERYSIPELOID

Abstract

"Erysipeloid" is the term first applied by Rosenbach¹in 1884 to a self-limited skin infection characterized by a slowly progressive, painful erythema beginning at the site of infection and extending peripherally as the central area fades. He observed this infection on the hands of kitchen workers, butchers and those who handle fish and game. This disease is now known to be caused by Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, the organism of swine erysipelas, and is identical with the cutaneous infection generally known to the public as "fish poisoning" acquired from handling either fresh or salt water fish. Its recognition as a significant occupational disease of commercial fishermen, abattoir workers (Klauder, 1938²) and bone button cutters³has been reported. A case of bacterial endocarditis caused by Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is reported because it is a rare fatal complication of erysipeloid infection and no similar bacteriologically proved case has been found in