Humanities
Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
  • Register
  • Login
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Current
  • Archives
  • Announcements
  • About
    • About the Journal
    • Submissions
    • Editorial Team
    • Privacy Statement
    • Contact
  • Register
  • Login

Journal of Education, Health and Sport

Skin lesions caused by Orthopoxvirus, cowpox - case report from Poland
  • Home
  • /
  • Skin lesions caused by Orthopoxvirus, cowpox - case report from Poland
  1. Home /
  2. Archives /
  3. Vol. 11 No. 9 (2021) /
  4. Case Reports

Skin lesions caused by Orthopoxvirus, cowpox - case report from Poland

Authors

  • Konrad Kania Medical University of Lublin, Faculty of Medicine https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6979-2534
  • Maria Kalicka Medical University of Lublin, Faculty of Medicine
  • Tomasz Korzec Medical University of Lublin, Faculty of Medicine
  • Przemyslaw Raczkiewicz Medical University of Lublin, Faculty of Medicine https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4986-4833
  • Monika Kuc Medical Faculty, Institute of Medical Sciences, Collegium Medicum, Oleska Street 48, 45-052 Opole

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2021.11.09.006

Keywords

orthopoxvirus, cowpox, eschar, skin lesion

Abstract

Background:

Despite the elimination of smallpox, other orthopoxviruses, including cowpox virus, still infect humans. Wild rodents are its natural reservoir. Infections in humans are commonly reported from contact with sick domestic cats, rarely directly from rats. Cow pox in humans is a rare zoonotic disease, the diagnosis of which is problematic due to its rarity and thus the lack of clinical experience.

Case report:

Presented with a summary of the available clinical data on a 15-year-old boy who became infected with cowpox by a domestic cat.

The patient developed cutaneous macular changes in the facial area. Within 3 weeks of the onset of symptoms, the lesions progressed through the papular, vesicular and pustular stages before forming a hard black eschars (2 cm in diameter) with erythema and edema and regional lifadenopathy. Differential diagnosis consisting of cat scratch disease, anthrax and brucellosis excluded microbiological examination. The lesions left scars after 8 weeks of continuous topical antiseptic treatment.

Conclusions:

The clinical course may be complicated, and the improvement takes 4 to 8 weeks. Infection which entered through the skin changes was the cause of antibiotic therapy. Cowpox should be suspected in patients with poorly healing skin lesions accompanied by a painful black eschars with erythema and local lymphadenopathy.

References

Essbauer S, Pfeffer M, Meyer H. Zoonotic poxviruses. Vet Microbiol. 2010 Jan 27;140(3-4):229-36. doi: 10.1016/j.vetmic.2009.08.026. Epub 2009 Aug 26. PMID: 19828265.

Abrahão, J.S., Lima, L.S., Assis, F.L. et al. Nested-multiplex PCR detection of Orthopoxvirus and Parapoxvirus directly from exanthematic clinical samples. Virol J 6, 140 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1186/1743-422X-6-140

Nitsche A, Pauli G. Sporadic human cases of cowpox in Germany. Euro Surveill. 2007;12(16):pii=3178. https://doi.org/10.2807/esw.12.16.03178-en

Skórne objawy nadwrażliwości na antybiotyki. Cutaneous symptoms of antibiotics hypersensitivity. Ewelina Stefańska, Grzegorz Dworacki, Mariola Pawlaczyk, Marzena Dworacka. FARMACJA WSPÓŁCZESNA 2011; 4: 85-92

Bennett, M., Gaskell, C. J., Baxbyt, D., Gaskell, R. M., Kelly, D. F., & Naidoot, J. (1990). Feline cowpox virus infection. Journal of Small Animal Practice, 31(4), 167–173. doi:10.1111/j.1748-5827.1990.tb00760.x

Martinez MJ, Bray MP, Huggins JW. A mouse model of aerosol-transmitted orthopoxviral disease: morphology of experimental aerosol-transmitted orthopoxviral disease in a cowpox virus-BALB/c mouse system. Arch Pathol Lab Med. 2000 Mar;124(3):362-77. doi: 10.5858/2000-124-0362-AMMOAT. PMID: 10705388.

Wolfs TF, Wagenaar JA, Niesters HG, Osterhaus AD. Rat-to-human transmission of Cowpox infection. Emerg Infect Dis. 2002;8(12):1495-1496. doi:10.3201/eid0812.020089

Dubois ME, Slifka MK. Retrospective analysis of monkeypox infection. Emerg Infect Dis. 2008;14(4):592-599. doi:10.3201/eid1404.071044

Pauli G, Blümel J, Burger R, et al. Orthopox Viruses: Infections in Humans. Transfus Med Hemother. 2010;37(6):351-364. doi:10.1159/000322101

Krankowska DC, Woźniak PA, Cybula A, Izdebska J, Suchacz M, Samelska K, Wiercińska-Drapało A, Szaflik JP. Cowpox: How dangerous could it be for humans? Case report. Int J Infect Dis. 2021 Mar;104:239-241. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2020.12.061. Epub 2020 Dec 24. PMID: 33359672.

Andrei G, Snoeck R. Cidofovir Activity against Poxvirus Infections. Viruses. 2010;2(12):2803-2830. doi:10.3390/v2122803

Rice AD, Adams MM, Lampert B, et al. Efficacy of CMX001 as a prophylactic and presymptomatic antiviral agent in New Zealand white rabbits infected with rabbitpox virus, a model for orthopoxvirus infections of humans. Viruses. 2011;3(2):63-82. doi:10.3390/v3020063

Mazur-Melewska, K., Pieczonka-Ruszkowska, I., Szpura, K., Myszkowska-Torz, A., Mania, A., Kemnitz, P., … Figlerowicz, M. (2019). Skin lesions caused by Orthopoxvirus in children. Advances in Dermatology and Allergology. doi:10.5114/ada.2019.85366

Wollenberg, A., Vogel, S., Sárdy, M., Glos, K., Korting, H., & Ruzicka, T. (2012). The Munich Outbreak of Cutaneous Cowpox Infection: Transmission by Infected Pet Rats. Acta Dermato Venereologica, 92(2), 126–131. doi:10.2340/00015555-1227

Downloads

  • PDF

Published

2021-09-03

How to Cite

1.
KANIA, Konrad, KALICKA, Maria, KORZEC, Tomasz, RACZKIEWICZ, Przemyslaw and KUC, Monika. Skin lesions caused by Orthopoxvirus, cowpox - case report from Poland. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. Online. 3 September 2021. Vol. 11, no. 9, pp. 43-48. [Accessed 7 July 2025]. DOI 10.12775/JEHS.2021.11.09.006.
  • ISO 690
  • ACM
  • ACS
  • APA
  • ABNT
  • Chicago
  • Harvard
  • IEEE
  • MLA
  • Turabian
  • Vancouver
Download Citation
  • Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
  • BibTeX

Issue

Vol. 11 No. 9 (2021)

Section

Case Reports

License

Copyright (c) 2021 © The Author(s)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The periodical offers access to content in the Open Access system under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Stats

Number of views and downloads: 671
Number of citations: 0

Search

Search

Browse

  • Browse Author Index
  • Issue archive

User

User

Current Issue

  • Atom logo
  • RSS2 logo
  • RSS1 logo

Information

  • For Readers
  • For Authors
  • For Librarians

Newsletter

Subscribe Unsubscribe

Tags

Search using one of provided tags:

orthopoxvirus, cowpox, eschar, skin lesion
Up

Akademicka Platforma Czasopism

Najlepsze czasopisma naukowe i akademickie w jednym miejscu

apcz.umk.pl

Partners

  • Akademia Ignatianum w Krakowie
  • Akademickie Towarzystwo Andragogiczne
  • Fundacja Copernicus na rzecz Rozwoju Badań Naukowych
  • Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla Polskiej Akademii Nauk
  • Instytut Kultur Śródziemnomorskich i Orientalnych PAN
  • Instytut Tomistyczny
  • Karmelitański Instytut Duchowości w Krakowie
  • Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego
  • Państwowa Akademia Nauk Stosowanych w Krośnie
  • Państwowa Akademia Nauk Stosowanych we Włocławku
  • Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa im. Stanisława Pigonia w Krośnie
  • Polska Fundacja Przemysłu Kosmicznego
  • Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne
  • Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze
  • Towarzystwo Miłośników Torunia
  • Towarzystwo Naukowe w Toruniu
  • Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
  • Uniwersytet Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie
  • Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika
  • Uniwersytet w Białymstoku
  • Uniwersytet Warszawski
  • Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna - Książnica Kopernikańska
  • Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne w Pelplinie / Wydawnictwo Diecezjalne „Bernardinum" w Pelplinie

© 2021- Nicolaus Copernicus University Accessibility statement Shop