Woman's pet cat gave her cowpox
A woman in the U.K. developed a severe eye infection due to cowpox, a cousin of smallpox, which she contracted from her pet cat. The 28-year-old woman had an eye infection that was so severe, doctors feared she would lose her vision, Live Science reported. Although she received a slew of antibiotics, nothing seemed to work, according to a report of the case, published June 5 in The New England Journal of Medicine. Interestingly, two weeks earlier, the patient's pet cat had developed unusual lesions on its paws and head. Samples from the cat's lesions and the woman's eye both tested positive for cowpox, a rare viral disease that can infect multiple animal species, including cows, cats and humans. It's closely related to the vaccinia virus, which is used in the smallpox vaccine. Transmission of cowpox from cats to people is extremely rare, with only a few cases ever reported. The woman received treatment with the antiviral drug tecovirimat, which her doctors obtained from the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile. The stockpile contains 2 million doses of tecovirimat that are kept in case of a bioterror attack with smallpox. The drug worked to clear her infection.