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Journal of Zoo and Wildlife Medicine :... Mar 2016Avian poxviruses (APV) are very large viruses spread worldwide in a variety of hosts. They are responsible for a disease usually referred to as pox, mainly characterized...
Avian poxviruses (APV) are very large viruses spread worldwide in a variety of hosts. They are responsible for a disease usually referred to as pox, mainly characterized by nodular lesions on feather-free regions of the body. On May 2010, a young American flamingo (Phoenicopterus ruber) of the Lisbon Zoo (Portugal) developed a nodular lesion suggestive of poxvirus infection on its right foot. Avipoxvirus was isolated from the lesion and a fragment of the P4b-encoding gene was amplified by polymerase chain reaction. The nucleotide sequence of the amplicon was determined and analyzed. A close relationship (100% identity) was observed between the flamingo poxvirus and isolates from great bustard (Hungary 2005), house sparrow (Morocco 2009), MacQueen's bustard (Morocco 2011), and Houbara bustard (Morocco 2010 and 2011), suggesting interspecies transmission as a possible source of infection. To strengthen the investigation, the 5' and 3' ends of genes cnpv186 and cnpv 187, respectively, were also analyzed. The cnpv186-187 fragment exhibited 100% identity with MacQueen's bustard and Houbara bustard isolates, both from Morocco 2011. Phylogenetic analyses based in both fragments grouped the flamingo isolate consistently within clade B2 of canarypox. However, the phylogenetic relationships among the different representatives of avian poxviruses were more comprehensive in the tree based on the concatenated coding sequences of the cnpv186-187 fragment, rather than on the P4b-coding gene. The clearer displacement and distribution of the isolates regarding their host species in this last tree suggests the potential usefulness of this genomic region to refine avian poxvirus classification.
Topics: Animals; Animals, Zoo; Bird Diseases; Birds; Phylogeny; Portugal; Poxviridae; Poxviridae Infections
PubMed: 27010277
DOI: 10.1638/2011-0101.1 -
Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine 2002This report describes the clinical and laboratory findings for 5 sheep from 3 different flocks with extensive proliferative skin lesions grossly resembling warts on the...
This report describes the clinical and laboratory findings for 5 sheep from 3 different flocks with extensive proliferative skin lesions grossly resembling warts on the distal limbs. The lesions affected the front and rear extremities in all sheep, and 2 sheep also had lesions around the head. The sheep exhibited signs of pain when the lesions were touched, and most sheep were reluctant to move. Various empirical treatments, including systemic antibiotics, topical antibiotics, and antifungal ointments, were administered without clinical improvement. Diagnostic tests including skin biopsy and histopathology, examination of skin scrapings, bacteriology, mycology, electron microscopy of lesions, and immunohistochemical analysis demonstrated that the lesions were the result of parapoxvirus infection. All 5 animals were euthanized either because of the lack of resolution of clinical signs or a decision by the owner. These animals illustrate an atypical presentation of parapoxvirus infection in sheep (orf, contagious ecthyma, and scabby mouth). The infection appeared to be minimally contagious; however, the lesions did not spontaneously resolve. This appears to be the 1st report of such lesions in multiple sheep in North America, although similar lesions have been reported in Israel and the United Kingdom.
Topics: Animals; Diagnosis, Differential; Female; Immunohistochemistry; Male; Parapoxvirus; Poxviridae Infections; Prognosis; Sheep; Sheep Diseases; Warts
PubMed: 12041659
DOI: 10.1892/0891-6640(2002)016<0287:apiis>2.3.co;2 -
Antiviral Research Jul 2002Cidofovir [(S)-1-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)cytosine, HPMPC] has since 1996 been licensed for clinical use in the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis... (Comparative Study)
Comparative Study Review
Cidofovir [(S)-1-(3-hydroxy-2-phosphonylmethoxypropyl)cytosine, HPMPC] has since 1996 been licensed for clinical use in the treatment of cytomegalovirus (CMV) retinitis in AIDS patients. Cidofovir has broad-spectrum activity against virtually all DNA viruses, including herpes-, adeno-, polyoma-, papilloma- and poxviruses. Among the poxviruses, vaccinia, variola (smallpox), cowpox, monkeypox, camelpox, molluscum contagiosum and orf have proven sensitive to the inhibitory effects of cidofovir. In vivo, cidofovir has shown high efficacy, even after administration of a single systemic (intraperitoneal) or intranasal (aerosolized) dose, in protecting mice from a lethal respiratory infection with either vaccinia or cowpox. Cidofovir has also demonstrated high effectiveness in the treatment of vaccinia virus infection in severe combined immune deficiency mice. In humans, cidofovir has been used successfully in the treatment, by both the topical and intravenous route, of recalcitrant molluscum contagiosum and orf in immunocompromised patients. Taken together, these data indicate that cidofovir should be effective in the therapy and short-term prophylaxis of smallpox and related poxvirus infections in humans, as well as the treatment of the complications of vaccinia that may arise in immunocompromised patients inadvertently inoculated with the smallpox vaccine (vaccinia).
Topics: Administration, Intranasal; Animals; Antiviral Agents; Cidofovir; Cytosine; DNA, Viral; Disease Models, Animal; Humans; Immunocompromised Host; Injections, Intraperitoneal; Injections, Intravenous; Organophosphonates; Organophosphorus Compounds; Poxviridae; Poxviridae Infections
PubMed: 12076747
DOI: 10.1016/s0166-3542(02)00008-6 -
Journal of Comparative Pathology Feb 2023We report the successful treatment of poxvirus lesions in two juvenile American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) with experimental low-dose intralesional ribavirin...
We report the successful treatment of poxvirus lesions in two juvenile American flamingos (Phoenicopterus ruber) with experimental low-dose intralesional ribavirin injection. In the first flamingo, the size and location of a beak verrucosity interfered with feeding, and after multiple surgical interventions, an experimental therapy of low-dose intralesional ribavirin was implemented with close blood parameter monitoring to minimize any potential side effects due to systemic antiviral administration. The second flamingo had a poxvirus lesion on the tibiotarsus, which recurred after unsuccessful conservative medical treatment and surgical intervention and a course of intralesional ribavirin therapy was implemented. Regression of the lesions in both flamingos commenced within 3 days of ribavirin treatment resulting in complete resolution within 6 weeks of onset of ribavirin treatment.
Topics: Animals; Ribavirin; Bird Diseases; Poxviridae Infections; Birds
PubMed: 36706467
DOI: 10.1016/j.jcpa.2022.11.004 -
Clinical Infectious Diseases : An... Nov 2015Human and animal poxvirus infections are being reported with increasing frequency. We describe a challenging case history and treatment of a previously unknown poxvirus...
BACKGROUND
Human and animal poxvirus infections are being reported with increasing frequency. We describe a challenging case history and treatment of a previously unknown poxvirus rash illness in a renal transplant patient.
METHODS
A combination of classical microbiology techniques, including viral culture and electron microscopy, were used to provide initial clinical diagnosis. Subsequent standard polymerase chain reaction assays available in 2001 were noncontributory. Next generation sequencing was used to provide definitive diagnosis.
RESULTS
Retrospectively, next generation sequencing methods were used to ultimately provide the definitive diagnosis of a novel poxvirus infection initially identified by electron microscopy. The closest relative of this poxvirus, identified in North America, is a poxvirus collected from a mosquito pool from Central Africa in 1972.
CONCLUSIONS
This diagnostic quandary was ultimately solved using next generation DNA sequencing. This article describes the use of classical and next generation diagnostic strategies to identify etiologic agents of emerging infectious diseases and once again demonstrates the susceptibility of immunossupressed patients to novel pathogens. The virus identified is closely related to Yoka virus; these viruses appear to have independently diverged from a common ancestor of all known orthopoxviruses.
Topics: Exanthema; High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing; Humans; Immunocompromised Host; Kidney Transplantation; Male; Microscopy, Electron, Transmission; Middle Aged; Phylogeny; Poxviridae; Poxviridae Infections; Retrospective Studies; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Transplant Recipients; Virus Cultivation
PubMed: 26243783
DOI: 10.1093/cid/civ643 -
Zoonoses and Public Health Aug 2018Orthopoxviruses spill over from animal reservoirs to accidental hosts, sometimes causing human infections. We describe the surveillance and infection control measures...
Orthopoxviruses spill over from animal reservoirs to accidental hosts, sometimes causing human infections. We describe the surveillance and infection control measures undertaken during an outbreak due to an Orthopoxvirus occurred in January 2015 in a colony of Macaca tonkeana in the province of Rieti, Latio, Italy, which caused a human asymptomatic infection. According to the epidemiological investigation, the human transmission occurred after an unprotected exposure. The contacts among wild, captive and domestic animals and humans, together with decreased immunity against Orthopoxviruses in the community, may put animal handlers at risk of infection, especially after the cessation of smallpox vaccination. To reduce these threats, standard precautions including respiratory hygiene and transmission-based precautions should be carefully applied also in veterinary medicine.
Topics: Adult; Aged; Animals; Antibodies, Viral; Chlorocebus aethiops; Disease Outbreaks; Disease Reservoirs; Female; Humans; Immunoglobulin G; Immunoglobulin M; Italy; Macaca; Male; Middle Aged; Monkey Diseases; Orthopoxvirus; Poxviridae Infections; Vero Cells
PubMed: 29512303
DOI: 10.1111/zph.12459 -
BMC Veterinary Research Jul 2020The present report describes a case of pseudocowpox virus (PCPV) infection in a seven-year-old female bison euthanized due to a history of declining condition and sores...
BACKGROUND
The present report describes a case of pseudocowpox virus (PCPV) infection in a seven-year-old female bison euthanized due to a history of declining condition and sores on the vulva and udder.
CASE PRESENTATION
External examination revealed multifocal, raised, keratinized plaques (0.5-2 cm) covering the skin of the ventral surface of the tail, perineum, caudoventral abdomen, udder, both inguinal recesses, and the medial aspects of both thighs. No significant gross lesions were present in the reminder of the tissues examined. Histopathological examination of the affected skin showed moderate epidermal hyperplasia with rete pegs, marked parakeratotic hyperkeratosis with crusts of degenerate neutrophils and cell debris, and few epithelial cells undergoing ballooning degeneration with occasional eosinophilic intracytoplasmic inclusion bodies (3-5 μm Bollinger body). Negative staining electron microscopy from skin revealed typical Parapoxvirus (PPV) particles, which were also confirmed by real-time PCR (Ct =18.6). Metagenomic analysis of the skin samples revealed only poxviruses. The bison parapox B2L envelope gene clustered with other parapox sequences identified from ruminants.
CONCLUSIONS
This is the first report of PCPV virus infection in an American bison. Identification of novel susceptible hosts of parapox viruses sheds light on the viral evolution and highlights the importance of potential economic impact of this disease to the bison industry.
Topics: Animals; Bison; DNA, Viral; Female; Kansas; Microscopy, Electron; Poxviridae Infections; Pseudocowpox Virus; Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; Skin Diseases, Viral
PubMed: 32660468
DOI: 10.1186/s12917-020-02464-7 -
Virology Sep 2013Since the eradication of Smallpox, researchers have attempted to study Orthopoxvirus pathogenesis and immunity in animal models in order to correlate results human...
Since the eradication of Smallpox, researchers have attempted to study Orthopoxvirus pathogenesis and immunity in animal models in order to correlate results human smallpox. A solely human pathogen, Orthopoxvirus variola fails to produce authentic smallpox illness in any other animal species tested to date. In 2003, an outbreak in the USA of Orthopoxvirus monkeypox, revealed the susceptibility of the North American black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) to infection and fulminate disease. Prairie dogs infected with Orthopoxvirus monkeypox present with a clinical scenario similar to ordinary smallpox, including prodrome, rash, and high mortality. This study examines if Black-tailed prairie dogs can become infected with O. variola and serve as a surrogate model for the study of human smallpox disease. Substantive evidence of infection is found in immunological seroconversion of animals to either intranasal or intradermal challenges with O. variola, but in the absence of overt illness.
Topics: Animals; Antibodies, Viral; Disease Models, Animal; Female; Humans; Immunity; Male; Orthopoxvirus; Poxviridae Infections; Sciuridae; Smallpox
PubMed: 23809939
DOI: 10.1016/j.virol.2013.05.029 -
Advances in Experimental Medicine and... 2024Poxviruses are large (200-450 nm) and enveloped viruses carrying double-stranded DNA genome with an epidermal cell-specific adaptation. The genus Orthopoxvirus within... (Review)
Review
Poxviruses are large (200-450 nm) and enveloped viruses carrying double-stranded DNA genome with an epidermal cell-specific adaptation. The genus Orthopoxvirus within Poxviridae family constitutes several medically and veterinary important viruses including variola (smallpox), vaccinia, monkeypox virus (MPXV), and cowpox. The monkeypox disease (mpox) has recently emerged as a public health emergency caused by MPXV. An increasing number of human cases of MPXV have been documented in non-endemic nations without any known history of contact with animals brought in from endemic and enzootic regions, nor have they involved travel to an area where the virus was typically prevalent. Here, we review the MPXV replication, virus pathobiology, mechanism of viral infection transmission, virus evasion the host innate immunity and antiviral therapies against Mpox. Moreover, preventive measures including vaccination were discussed and concluded that cross-protection against MPXV may be possible using antibodies that are directed against an Orthopoxvirus. Despite the lack of a specialised antiviral medication, several compounds such as Cidofovir and Ribavirin warrant consideration against mpox.
Topics: Humans; Animals; Monkeypox virus; Orthopoxvirus; Mpox (monkeypox); Antiviral Agents; Virus Replication; Poxviridae Infections
PubMed: 38801574
DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-57165-7_7 -
Clinical Infectious Diseases : An... Jan 2015Some human poxvirus infections can be acquired through zoonotic transmission. We report a previously unknown poxvirus infection in 2 patients, 1 of whom was...
BACKGROUND
Some human poxvirus infections can be acquired through zoonotic transmission. We report a previously unknown poxvirus infection in 2 patients, 1 of whom was immunocompromised; both patients had known equine contact.
METHODS
The patients were interviewed and clinical information was abstracted from the patients' medical files. Biopsies of the skin lesions were collected from both patients for histopathology, immunohistochemistry, and transmission electron microscopy analysis. Oral and skin swabs were collected from animals with frequent contact with the patients, and environmental sampling including rodent trapping was performed on the farm where the immunosuppressed patient was employed. "Pan-pox and high Guanine-cytosine" polymerase chain reaction assays were performed on patient, animal, and environmental isolates. Amplicon sequences of the viral DNA were used for agent identification and phylogenetic analysis.
RESULTS
Specimens from both human cases revealed a novel poxvirus. The agent shares 88% similarity to viruses in the Parapoxvirus genus and 78% to those in the Molluscipoxvirus genus but is sufficiently divergent to resist classification as either. All animal and environmental specimens were negative for poxvirus and both patients had complete resolution of lesions.
CONCLUSIONS
This report serves as a reminder that poxviruses should be considered in cutaneous human infections, especially in individuals with known barnyard exposures. The clinical course of the patients was similar to that of parapoxvirus infections, and the source of this virus is currently unknown but is presumed to be zoonotic. This report also demonstrates the importance of a comprehensive approach to diagnosis of human infections caused by previously unknown pathogens.
Topics: Biopsy; DNA, Viral; Humans; Molecular Sequence Data; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Poxviridae; Poxviridae Infections; Sequence Analysis, DNA; Skin; United States
PubMed: 25301210
DOI: 10.1093/cid/ciu790