title: Rat-to-human transmission of Cowpox infection.
abstract: We isolated Cowpox virus (CPXV) from the ulcerative eyelid lesions of a 14-year-old girl, who had cared for a clinically ill wild rat that later died. CPXV isolated from the rat (Rattus norvegicus) showed complete homology with the girl's virus. Our case is the first proven rat-to-human transmission of cowpox.
authors.affiliation: Wihelmina Children's Hospital/University Medical Center, Utrecht, the Netherlands. t.wolfs@wkz.azu.nl
authors.forename: Tom F W
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Wolfs
authors.forename: Jaap A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Wagenaar
authors.forename: Hubert G M
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Niesters
authors.forename: Albert D M E
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Osterhaus
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D015605:Cowpox / Q000635:transmission*; D015608:Cowpox virus / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D051381:Rats