[Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae--a cause of erysipeloid and endocarditis].

Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae is widespread among many species of animals including fish. Erysipeloid is the most common infection caused by this bacterium in man; systemic infection, with endocarditis, is rare. Most of the affected patients risk exposure to the organism at work. Two patients with E. rhusiopathiae infections are described; one with erysipeloid after slaughtering a deer, the other with fatal endocarditis after gutting an eel. Erysipeloid may be confused with "seal finger", but this disease probably has a different microbial etiology and requires different antibiotic treatment.