title: Orthopoxvirus infection transmitted by a domestic cat.
abstract: The variola virus was declared eradicated by the World Health Organization in 1980 but human infections by cowpox virus, another member of the genus Orthopoxvirus, are still observed, mainly in European countries. We report a woman who presented with two umbilicated vesicles surrounded by an indurated erythematous edema within cat scratch injuries on her thigh. The diagnosis of an Orthopoxvirus infection was based on the visualization of characteristic virus particles by electron microscopy and the detection of the A27L gene (14-kd fusion protein gene) of the genus Orthopoxvirus by polymerase chain reaction from a lesional skin biopsy specimen. Differential diagnoses of cat scratch disease, pustula maligna, and bullous impetigo were excluded by microbiologic investigation of the biopsy specimen. Both lesions scarred after 6 weeks of a continuous local antiseptic treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, Georg-August-University Goettingen, Goettingen, Germany. h.haenssle@med.uni-goettingen.de
authors.forename: Holger A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Haenssle
authors.forename: Judith
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kiessling
authors.forename: Volkhard A J
authors.initials: VA
authors.lastname: Kempf
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.forename: Christine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Neumann
authors.forename: Steffen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Emmert
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D018155:Orthopoxvirus; D011213:Poxviridae Infections / Q000635:transmission*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000821:virology*; D015047:Zoonoses / Q000821:virology*