RESEARCH Orthopoxvirus DNA in Eurasian Lynx

• Main Authors: Morten Tryl, Malachy Ifeanyi Okeke, Carl Hård Af Segerstad, Torsten Mörner, Terje Traavik
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Norway; Lynx; Lynx lynx lynx
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.204.5516; http://www.cdc.gov/eid/content/17/4/pdfs/626.pdf

Cowpox virus, which has been used to protect humans against smallpox but may cause severe disease in immunocompromised persons, has reemerged in humans, domestic cats, and other animal species in Europe. Orthopoxvirus (OPV) DNA was detected in tissues (lung, kidney, spleen) in 24 (9%) of 263 free-ranging Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) from Sweden. Thymidine kinase gene amplicon sequences (339 bp) from 21 lynx were all identical to those from cowpox virus isolated from a person in Norway and phylogenetically closer to monkeypox virus than to vaccinia virus and isolates from 2 persons with cowpox virus in Sweden. Prevalence was higher among animals from regions with dense, rather than rural, human populations. Lynx are probably exposed to OPV through predation on small mammal reservoir species. We conclude that OPV is widely distributed in Sweden and may represent a threat to humans. Further studies are needed to verify whether this lynx OPV is cowpox virus. Cowpox virus (family Poxviridae, genus Orthopoxvirus [OPV]) was originally considered to infect milking cows and to have zoonotic potential. Because of its relationship to variola virus and immunologic crossreaction, cowpox virus was used to protect humans against smallpox (1). Later, vaccinia virus, another OPV with unknown origin, was used as a vaccine virus through the global smallpox eradication campaign, and cowpox virus infections became less common in cattle, other animals