Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins is...

Mario Lemieux of the Pittsburgh Penguins is undergoing treatment for a rare, potentially career-threatening bone infection that can cause severe pain, but is recovering quickly and should play again, his doctor said.

Dr. Charles Burke, the Penguins’ orthopedist, said it is too early to speculate that Lemieux’s career is in danger and challenged published reports that the All-Star has a potentially serious bone disease known as vertebral osteomyelitis.

The disease is a staph infection located in the bone and difficult to completely cure. Burke has hesitated to use the formal name because, he said, “It isn’t a disease, it’s an infection. (Lemieux) has what we’ve said all along, a disk infection that has affected the bone.”

Lemieux, 25, will take antibiotics for two more weeks, then undergo more tests. If the infection is gone and no bone damage is detected, he could resume playing by January.