Human cowpox infection in Sharkia Governorate, Egypt

Background and objective In the last few years. outbreaks of an apparently specific dermatosis occurred during the months of late summer and early aut umn in our locality. Our aim in this study was to reveal the underlying eti ology of this dermatosis. Subjects and methods Sixty patients with the disease were studied clinicall y, epidemiologically, histopathologically, and ultrastructurally. Results The results of all methods suggest that the dermatosis is most prob ably a human cowpox infection. Electron microscopy showed unenveloped cowpo x virons. Conclusions This apparently specific dermatosis is due to human cowpox infe ction. Future investigations will be needed to better define this important zoonosis frequently passed by cats to humans and carried by rodents.