Generalized fatal Cowpox virus infection in a cat with transmission to a human contact case.
A 4-month-old female domestic shorthair cat was infected by a virus of the Poxvirus family. The animal developed a severe pneumonia and generalized ulcerating lesions of the skin. Histologically, typical eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies indicative of an Orthopoxvirus (OPV) infection were present. The lung showed grey-white to haemorrhagic nodular lesions with a central zone of complete necrosis of alveolar and bronchial tissue. Electron microscopy from skin and lung nodules revealed typical square-shaped OPV particles. Cultivation of the virus on chorio-allantoic membranes of embryonated chicken eggs resulted in haemorrhagic plaques. Restriction enzyme analysis, PCR and sequencing of the D8L gene identified the OPV isolate as a typical Cowpox virus. It was transmitted by the cat to a human contact person who developed a local nodular dermatitis at the inoculation site in association with signs of general infection and had an increase of OPV-specific neutralizing antibodies in paired serum samples.
Schulze
C
C
Landeslabor Brandenburg, Ringstr. 1030, D-15236 Frankfurt (Oder), Germany.
Alex
M
M
Schirrmeier
H
H
Hlinak
A
A
Engelhardt
A
A
Koschinski
B
B
Beyreiss
B
B
Hoffmann
M
M
Czerny
C-P
CP
D000818:Animals; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000635:transmission*; D002415:Cats; D015605:Cowpox / Q000473:pathology / Q000635:transmission* / Q000662:veterinary; D015608:Cowpox virus / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D004279:DNA, Viral / Q000302:isolation & purification; D017809:Fatal Outcome; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry / Q000662:veterinary; D008297:Male; D013045:Species Specificity; D015047:Zoonoses
D004279:DNA, Viral