POX VIRUS

The largest viruses that infect vertebrates.

The family Poxviridae contains two subfamilies:
- Chordopoxvirinae, with 6 genera infecting a wide range of
mammals and birds.
- Entomopoxvirinae, with three genera that affect insects
only.
Chordopoxvirinae
1. Orthopoxvirus: Mammalian poxviruses that cause
generalized infection with rash -variola, vaccinia, cowpox,
monkeypox, rabbitpox, buffallopox, etc.
2. Parapoxvirus : viruses of ungulates and occasionally
infect humans - orf (contagious postular dermatitis),
paravaccinia.
3. Capripoxvirus : viruses of goats & sheep - sheep-pox,
goatpox, lumpy skin disease.
 4. Leporipox virus : viruses of leproids - myxoma & fibroma
5. Avipoxvirus : viruses of birds – fowlpox, turkeypox,
pigeonpox
6. Suipoxvirus : swinepox
Human infections
 Poxvirus diseases are characterised by skin lesions which
may be localised or generalised
 The most important of these was smallpox caused by
variola virus.
 Other pox viruses which can infect humans are vaccinia,
cowpox, monkeypox etc.
 Buffallopox and camelpox may occassionally infect
humans.
VARIOLA & VACCINIA
The variola virus is the causative agent of smallpox.
On 8th may 1980 the WHO formally announced the global
eradication of smallpox

Variola Virus
The virus causing classical smallpox was called variola
major and that causing alastrim as variola minor.
Variola major and minor were antigenically identical but
they differed in certain biological characteristics.
Vaccinia & The Smallpox Vaccine
The vaccinia virus was used as the smallpox vaccine.
The vaccinia virus is unique in that it is an artificial virus
and does not occur in nature as such.
It has been studied in greater detail than variola, as it
safer to work with.
The vaccinia and variola virus are so similar in their
properties that they can be considered together.
Morphology
The virion is brick shaped. It consists of a double
layered membrane which surrounds a biconcave
nucleoid containing the DNA core.
On either side of the nucleoid is a lens-shaped
structure called the lateral body.
SMALLPOX
It has been eradicated.
Smallpox was an exclusively human infection, with no animal
reservoir.
There were no carriers as the virus was eliminated
completely from the patient on recovery.
Source of infection: patient in early phase of disease.
Infectivity extended from the appearance of buccal mucosal
lesions (enathems) to the disappearance of all the skin
lesions (exanthems).
Infection usually occurred only in close contacts.
Virus entered the body by inhalation.
After initial multiplication in the local lymphoid tissues the
virus reach the RE cells where further multiplication took
place leading to severe viremia
The Incubation period 12 days.
The single crop of centrifugal exanthems passed through
macular, papular, vesicular and pustular stages before
scabbing and healing by scar formation in 2-4 weeks.
OTHER POX VIRUS DISEASES
MONKEYPOX
BUFFALOPOX
COWPOX
ORF
TANAPOX
MOLLUSCUM CONTAGIOSUM
YABAPOX