Inhibition of Poxvirus Gene Expression and Genome Replication by Bisbenzimide Derivatives.

Virus infection of humans and livestock can be devastating for individuals and populations, sometimes resulting in large economic and societal impact. Prevention of virus disease by vaccination or antiviral agents is difficult to achieve. A notable exception was the eradication of human smallpox by vaccination over 30 years ago.

Infection with Possible Novel Parapoxvirus in Horse, Finland, 2013.

A horse in Finland exhibited generalized granulomatous inflammation and severe proliferative dermatitis. After euthanization, we detected poxvirus DNA from a skin lesion sample. The virus sequence grouped with parapoxviruses, closely resembling a novel poxvirus detected in humans in the United States after horse contact.

Characterization of a novel poxvirus in a North American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus).

In 2009, a novel poxvirus was identified in a North American red squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus) from Yukon, Canada. Initial molecular analyses indicated that this virus was likely to be distinct from all other known mammalian poxviruses, including those previously associated with disease in tree squirrels--squirrel fibroma virus in North America and squirrelpox virus in the UK (UK SQPV). We characterize the Canadian squirrelpox virus (Canadian SQPV) using DNA sequence analysis and negative-contrast transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Isolation and expression of three open reading frames from ovine herpesvirus-2.

Ovine herpesvirus-2 (OvHV-2), a member of the gammaherpesviruses (genus Rhadinovirus), asymptomatically infects its natural host, the sheep, but causes malignant catarrhal fever (MCF) in susceptible hosts, such as cattle, deer and pigs. A permissive cell culture system for virus replication has not been identified but viral DNA is present within lymphoblastoid cell lines (LCLs) established from cases of MCF. During this study, a cDNA expression library generated from LCLs was screened with sheep sera and two cDNAs were isolated.