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Concept
Poxviridae
Summary
Poxviridae is a family of double-stranded DNA viruses. Vertebrates and arthropods serve as natural hosts. There are currently 83 species in this family, divided among 22 genera, which are divided into two subfamilies. Diseases associated with this family include smallpox.
Four genera of poxviruses may infect humans: Orthopoxvirus, Parapoxvirus, Yatapoxvirus, Molluscipoxvirus. Orthopoxvirus: smallpox virus (variola), vaccinia virus, cowpox virus, monkeypox virus; Parapoxvirus: orf virus, pseudocowpox, bovine papular stomatitis virus; Yatapoxvirus: tanapox virus, yaba monkey tumor virus; Molluscipoxvirus: molluscum contagiosum virus (MCV). The most common are vaccinia (seen on the Indian subcontinent) and molluscum contagiosum, but monkeypox infections are rising (seen in west and central African rainforest countries). The similarly named disease chickenpox is not a true poxvirus and is caused by the herpesvirus varicella zoster.
The name of the family, Poxviridae, is a legacy of the original grouping of viruses associated with diseases that produced poxes in the skin. Modern viral classification is based on phenotypic characteristics; morphology, nucleic acid type, mode of replication, host organisms, and the type of disease they cause. The smallpox virus remains the most notable member of the family.
Diseases caused by pox viruses, especially smallpox, have been known about for centuries. One of the earliest suspected cases is that of Egyptian pharaoh Ramses V who is thought to have died from smallpox circa 1150 years BCE. Smallpox was thought to have been transferred to Europe around the early 8th century and then to the Americas in the early 16th century, resulting in the deaths of 3.2 million Aztecs within two years of introduction. This death toll can be attributed to the indigenous population's complete lack of exposure to the virus over millennia.
A century after Edward Jenner showed that the less potent cowpox could be used to effectively vaccinate against the more deadly smallpox, a worldwide effort to vaccinate everyone against smallpox began with the ultimate goal to rid the world of the plague-like epidemic.
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