Outbreak of Severe Zoonotic Vaccinia Virus Infection, Southeastern Brazil

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Jônatas Santos Abrahão, Rafael Kroon Campos, Giliane de Souza Trindade, Flávio Guimarães da Fonseca, Paulo César Peregrino Ferreira, and Erna Geessien Kroon

Author affiliations: Author affiliation: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Abstract

In 2010, a vaccinia virus isolate caused an atypically severe outbreak that affected humans and cattle in Brazil. Of 26 rural workers affected, 12 were hospitalized. Our data raise questions about the risk factors related to the increasing number and severity of vaccinia virus infections.

After the World Health Organization declared in 1980 that smallpox had been eradicated, smallpox vaccination was suspended (1). This fact led to the emergence of a generation of humans that is susceptible to infection by zoonotic viruses of the genus Orthopoxvirus, which includes cowpox virus in Europe; monkeypox virus, which occurs naturally in Africa and of which 1 introduction was event reported in the United States; and vaccinia virus (VACV) in Asia and South America (2–5).

Especially during the past decade, orthopoxvirus (OPV) infections have increased worldwide, and the immunologic status of the population against OPV is a major risk factor for its reemergence (6). We describe an outbreak of atypically severe VACV infection in which 12 rural workers in Brazil, who were not vaccinated against smallpox, were hospitalized because of systemic clinical manifestations.

Dr. Abrahão is a biologist and professor of virology at the Laboratório de Vírus, Microbiology Department, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil. His research interests focus on monitoring and preventing emerging infectious diseases.

Acknowledgments

We thank all of our colleagues from Laboratório de Vírus, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, for their technical support.

Financial support was provided by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq), Pro-Reitoria de Pesquisa da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (PRPq-UFMG), Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES), Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais (FAPEMIG) and Ministério da Agricultura, Pecuária e Abastecimento (MAPA). E.G.K., P.P.F., C.A.B., G.S.T., and F.G.F. are CNPq researchers.

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Figure

Figure. Phylogenetic trees based on the nucleotide sequences of the A56R (A) and A26L (B) genes of orthopoxvirus showing that DOR clusters with Brazilian vaccinia virus(VACV) genogroup 1.The trees were constructed...

Table

Table. Clinical data of vaccinia virus–infected patients, Brazil, 2010

Suggested citation for this article: Abrahão JS, Campos RK, de Souza Trindade G, da Fonseca FG, Peregrino Fereira PC, Kroon EG. Outbreak of severe zoonotic vaccinia virus infection, southeastern Brazil. Emerg Infect Dis [Internet]. 2015 Apr [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid2104.140351

DOI: 10.3201/eid2104.140351