Adventures with Poxviruses of Vertebrates
Date
2000
Authors
Fenner, Frank
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Elsevier
Abstract
Because they were the largest of all viruses and could be visualised with a light microscope, the poxviruses were the first viruses to be
intensively studied in the laboratory. It was clear from an early date that they caused important diseases of humans and their domestic
animals, such as smallpox, cowpox, camelpox, sheeppox, fowlpox and goatpox. This essay recounts some of the early history of their
recognition and classification and then expands on aspects of research on poxviruses in which the author has been involved. Studies on the
best-known genus, Orthopoxvirus, relate to the use of infectious ectromelia of mice as a model for smallpox, embracing both experimental
epidemiology and pathogenesis, studies on the genetics of vaccinia virus and the problem of non-genetic reactivation (previously termed
`transformation') and the campaign for the global eradication of smallpox. The other group of poxviruses described here, the genus
Leporipoxvirus, came to prominence when the myxoma virus was used for the biological control of Australian wild rabbits. This provided a
unique natural experiment on the coevolution of a virus and its host. Future research will include further studies of the many
immunomodulatory genes found in all poxviruses of vertebrates, since these provide clues about the workings of the immune system and
how viruses have evolved to evade it. Some of the many recombinant poxvirus constructs currently being studied may come into use as
vaccines or for immunocontraception. A field that warrants study but will probably remain neglected is the natural history of skunkpox,
raccoonpox, taterapox, yabapox, tanapox and other little-known poxviruses. A dismal prospect is the possible use of smallpox virus for
bioterrorism.
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FEMS Microbiology Reviews
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Journal article
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