ABSTRACT
Two cases of human infection caused by vaccinia virus were recorded in the Rzeszów province (Poland), this infection being absent both in this province and in the whole country for many years. The diagnosis was based on the investigation of isolated samples (from one female patient) and the identification of the causative agent by its biological properties and the results of the analysis of its genome, made with the use of restrictases, as well as on the results of the serological investigation. Of the two female patients, one suffered from a prolonged and severe infection in her eye, the other had a lesion on the backside of her hand. Apart from local lesions, systemic phenomena (fever, malaise, headache) were observed in both patients. The authors state that, most likely, rodents were the source of infection in these two cases. This is confirmed by the fact that wild rodents (rats, mice) caught in the focus of infection show the presence of antibodies to orthopoxviruses.