content while terminal regions differ both in patterns and length of restriction enzyme cleavage sites (Esposito and Knight, 1985). Only members of the subfamily Chordopoxvirinae infect vertebrate hosts with four genera including species that produce disease in humans. Three of them are of zoonotic importance ie. OPXV, Yatapoxvirus. However, historically the well-known species of the genus OPXV is VARV that caused smallpox; a devastating disease of humans, BPXV has high similarity with this virus and VACV, by which small pox has been eradicated (Essbauer et al., 2010). Buffalopox is an infectious and contagious viral disease that affects the buffaloes and seldom cows. Morbidity in affected herds is up to 80% causing high economic losses to the farmers (Singh at al., 2006a). The causative agent BPX-virus (BPXV) belongs to genus OPXV, subfamily Chordopoxvirinae and in Poxviridae family. Reference strain of BPXV is BP4 strain (Singh and Singh, 1967; Baxby and Hill, 1969). 2.3. History The first reported case of BPX occurred in the year 1934 in Lahore city in the sub- continent India (Sharma, 1934). After that disease in both severe and mild forms was reported from different parts of India, Following the initial report of BPX in 1934 (Sharma, 1934), the disease is being reported regularly not only in mild but also in severe forms from different buffalo-rearing geographical locations (Sehgal ef al., 1977; Gurav ef al., 2011) Outbreaks of pox in buffaloes and cows in most cases are caused by BPXV (Yadav ef al., 2010). However, in 1967, for the first time, virus was isolated from Northern India and still is related with sporadic outbreaks in Asian buffaloes in Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Egypt, Russia, Nepal, Indonesia and Italy (Essbauer ef al., 2010). The disease is characterized by appearance of local pocks, severe in nature, on the skin of udder and teats that leads to mastitis thus decreasing milk production of the animals (40-70% reduction), and consequently having direct economic loss to the dairy industry (Essbauer et al., 2010). 2.4, Clinical signs and lesions Incubation period in humans (3-19 days) is comparatively longer than in animals (2-4 days) (Ghosh ef al., 1977). The disease can be generalized or localized with mild to severe form and linked mostly with mastitis in nearly 50% of BPX affected animals. Cutaneous eruptions all over the body and local erythema from 7-day post infection (DPI) to 25-DPI were observed when female buffaloes were experimentally inoculated via I/D route with