Paran Yael, David Dan, Rudoler Nir, Ingbir Merav, Khoury Nardeen, Halutz Ora, Ben-Ami Ronen, Berkowitz Asaf, Sol Asaf
Infectious Diseases Unit, Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center.
Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University.
J Infect Dis. 2025 Feb 20;231(2):495-500. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae427.
Bats are recognized as the natural reservoir of several zoonotic viruses that pose a threat to public health worldwide. In our recent reports, we describe the identification of a novel poxvirus, IsrRAPXV, in Egyptian fruit bats. This poxvirus is associated with high morbidity and mortality in bats.
Herein, we describe the identification of a poxvirus in a female patient hospitalized with systemic symptoms and severe painful skin lesions on her hands. We performed quantitative polymerase chain reaction, whole genome sequencing, and phylogenetic analysis to identify and characterize this poxvirus as the etiologic agent.
The patient interacted with wounded and sick bats as a volunteer in a bat shelter run by an Israel bat sanctuary organization. Samples collected from the patient's skin lesions were positive for the presence of IsrRAPXV by polymerase chain reaction. Additionally, phylogenetic analysis showed that this virus is identical to IsrRAPXV, originally described by us as the causative agent of skin lesions in fruit bats.
Our finding suggest that IsrRAPXV is zoonotic; therefore, veterinarians and volunteers working in bat shelters should meticulously follow the guidelines of working with bats and use required personal protective equipment.
蝙蝠被认为是几种人畜共患病毒的天然宿主，这些病毒对全球公共卫生构成威胁。在我们最近的报告中，我们描述了在埃及果蝠中鉴定出一种新型痘病毒，即以色列痘病毒（IsrRAPXV）。这种痘病毒与蝙蝠的高发病率和死亡率有关。
在此，我们描述了在一名因全身症状和手部严重疼痛性皮肤病变住院的女性患者中鉴定出一种痘病毒。我们进行了定量聚合酶链反应、全基因组测序和系统发育分析，以鉴定和表征这种痘病毒作为病原体。
该患者作为志愿者在以色列蝙蝠保护区组织运营的蝙蝠庇护所中与受伤和生病的蝙蝠互动。通过聚合酶链反应，从患者皮肤病变处采集的样本检测出以色列痘病毒呈阳性。此外，系统发育分析表明，这种病毒与我们最初描述为果蝠皮肤病变病原体的以色列痘病毒相同。
我们的研究结果表明以色列痘病毒是人畜共患的；因此，在蝙蝠庇护所工作的兽医和志愿者应严格遵循与蝙蝠工作的指导方针，并使用所需的个人防护设备。
