In 1986 I shot my first BB on the AK peninsula. I wore playtex gloves while skinning, my partner did not wear any protection. He ended up getting a rash which he ended having to have treated by a flight surgeon on base. My question is I can not remember the name of the disease/virus? The name "Seal Finger" or " Spec finger" comes to mind. Do anyone of you have any information on this rash or any knowledge or experience with this rash that you can share? Thanks

I have had three guides come down with it in the past twenty-five years. Fishermen also get it and I also know a trapper who got it skinning a beaver with sores on it's body. It can be very serious and if memory serves me correctly it is a severe staph infection.

I don't know about "Seal Finger" but I got a bad case of "no see um's" when I helped my guide and packer skin my Moose in the Farewell Burn. I rolled up my sleeves and in skinning got blood and sweat on my hands and forearms. I would then notice dozens of tiny black specs that looked like black pepper and wipe them off. Soon another crop would appear and the I would wipe them off again. The guide and packer told me they were "no see um's", a gnat like insect that were common to the tundra. My hands and forearms became whelp covered and itched considerably until I got back to Anchorage and applied a steriod lotion to releave the swelling. The pilot said he had a case so bad he had to boil salt water and soak his arms in to stop the swelling. I don't know if it is related to "Seal Finger" but it is the first thing than came to my mind when you mentioned the malady. Good shooting.

The tiny insects we call "white socks" due to their white legs. Are attracted to blood and can make life pretty miserable when butchering moose and caribou. They don't hurt when they bite but afterwards your wrists and forearms can swell up to twice normal size. It happens on faces too sometimes. it is normally not painful and goes away after a day or two but certainly impresses cheechakos.