Poxviridae

What is smallpox exactly? Smallpox is actually the nickname of the virus, the scientific name is Variola which may appear as V. major or V. minor. Variola virus is relatively stable in the natural environment. If aerosolized, it will retain its infectivity for at least several hours if not exposed to sunlight or ultraviolet light. Since the virus is two hundred and sixty by one hundred fifty nanometers and contains a molecule of double stranded DNA putatively coding for some two hundred different proteins; makes smallpox one of the largest viral genomes known which makes it especially difficult to create a synthetic copy of the virus for medical purposes. There are two rare forms of smallpox: haemorrhagic and malignant. Both types happen to be extremely fatal, the rash was accompanied by haemorrhage into the mucous membranes and the skin. Malignant smallpox was characterized by lesions that did not develop to the pustular stage but remained soft and flat. Smallpox is an acute contagious viral disease, with fever and pustules usually leaving permanent scars. Smallpox was localized in small blood vessels of the skin and in the mouth and throat. In the skin it resulted in a characteristic maculopapular rash and, later raised fluid-filled blisters. Symptoms of Smallpox occur twelve to fourteen days after the individual has been infected and they may include backache, delirium, diarrhea, excessive bleeding, fatigue, high fever, malaise, pink rash (turns into sores that become…

Smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by the variola virus (variola major and variola minor). Smallpox gets its name from the pus-filled blisters (or pocks) that form during the illness. The variola virus, which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus, the family Poxviridae and subfamily chordopoxvirinae, is a double-strand DNA virus. After the virus has developed inside the host after around a week, symptoms such as high fever, chills, headache, back and abdominal pains and vomiting…

Pox virus is a double DNA virus that is best characterized by lesions that appear on the skin. The virus is identified using an electron microscope to find the brick shaped virions (King 2012). The use of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) can identify which subfamily and genus the strand of pox virus is classified under. The family Poxviridae can be split into two subfamilies Chordopoxvirinae (vertebrate pox virus) and Entomopoxvirinae (insect pox virus) (Bracht et al 2005, King 2012). The…

milkmaids in England who had been exposed to the less deadly cow pox appeared immune to smallpox. He hypothesized cow pox would protect against smallpox and could be used as a “deliberate mechanism of protection.” (Riedel, S. 2005, p24). In fact, Jenner actually labeled the procedure vaccination, which is a derived from the Latin term for cowpox, vaccina (Riedel, S. 2005, p24). As vaccination procedures matured so did the efforts to reduce the incidence of the disease. By the second half of…

interaction between these infectious agents and their host viruses we must first have a basic understanding of Nucleo-cytoplasmic Large DNA viruses. Nucleo-cytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses (NCLDV) have generated considerable interest since their discovery more than a decade ago. As will be discussed later, metagenomics or large-scale DNA assay of non-differentiated environmental and ecological samples have been helpful in placing NCLDV into the larger fabric of a genomic universe [2]. Until…