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Volume 31, Number 2—February 2025
Etymologia
Mycoplasma phocimorsus (mῑ-kō-′plaz-mǝ fō-ki-′mȯr-sǝs), panaritium (pan-ə-′rish-ē-əm)
Suggested citation for this article
This issue of EID incudes a report of patient with a cat scratch–induced panaritium caused by infection with the bacterium Mycoplasma phocimorsus (see page XXX). In 2023, researchers at Statens Serum Institut in Denmark reported a novel species of the bacterial class Mollicutes (from the Latin mollis for soft and cutis for skin). The new species was named Mycoplasma phocimorsus (phoca for seal, morsus for bite); 6 strains were found in samples from Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
The associated infection, first described in 1907, was called seal, blubber, or spekk (Norwegian for blubber) finger because infected persons had been exposed to seals in marine environments. The superficial lesions around the fingernail are called whitlows, but deeper penetration involves the tendon sheath, a painful condition deemed panaritium tendineum. (Panaritium, used interchangeably with whitlow or paronychia, more correctly implies purulent inflammation and infection of digital tendons.)
The etymology for Mycoplasma (mykes for fungus, plasma for formed) is complicated. The word was introduced by A.B. Frank in 1889 to denote an intimate relationship between plant-invading fungi or other microorganisms and their host cells, whose cytoplasm is altered by the infection. Frank described mycoplasma as a “mixture of fungal and plant protoplasm…that it gave rise to bacteroid tissue.”
References
- Bidenknap JH. Spackflegmonen. Norsh Magazin for Legevidenskaben. 1907;68:515–23.
- Krass CJ, Gardner MW. Etymology of the term Mycoplasma. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 1973;23:62–4.
- Newman Dorland WA. The American illustrated medical dictionary. 22nd edition. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders Company; 1951. p. 1084.
- Panaritium. Wiktionary [cited 2024 Nov 11]. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/panaritium
- Skafte-Holm A, Pedersen TR, Frølund M, Stegger M, Qvortrup K, Michaels DL, et al. Mycoplasma phocimorsus sp. nov., isolated from Scandinavian patients with seal finger or septic arthritis after contact with seals. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol. 2023;73:73. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
- Skafte-Holm A, Pedersen TR, Frølund M, Stegger M, Hallstrøm S, Rasmussen A, et al. Mycoplasma phocimorsus in woman with tendinous panaritium after cat scratch, Denmark. Emerg Infect Dis. 2025;31:XXX.
- Species Mycoplasma phocimorsus. LPSN—List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature [cited 2024 Nov 11]. https://lpsn.dsmz.de/species/mycoplasma-phocimorsus
- White CP, Jewer DD. Seal finger: A case report and review of the literature. Can J Plast Surg. 2009;17:133–5. DOIPubMedGoogle Scholar
Figure
Suggested citation for this article: Partin C. Mycoplasma phocimorsus (mῑ-kō-ʹplaz-mǝ fō-ki-ʹmȯr-sǝs), panaritium (pan-ə-ʹrish-ē-əm). Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Sep [date cited]. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3102.241778
Original Publication Date: January 16, 2025
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Table of Contents – Volume 31, Number 2—February 2025
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Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:
Clyde Partin, Emory Clinic, 1365 Clifton Rd NE, Bldg A, 1st Fl, Atlanta, GA 30322, USA
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