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Cowpox
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Cowpox was the original vaccine of sorts for smallpox. After infection with the disease, the body (usually) gains the ability of recognizing the similar smallpox virus from its antigens and so is able to fight the smallpox disease much more efficiently. The vaccinia virus now used for smallpox vaccination is sufficiently different from the cowpox virus found in the wild as to be considered a separate virus. [3]
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Cowpox: A mild skin disease of milk cows, principally confined to the udder and teats, that may be contracted by people from milking an infected cow. People develop vesicles (blebs) which break and form ulcers on the fingers (sometimes called "milkers nodules"). These usually heal without scarring. Cowpox protects against smallpox and was used by Edward Jenner in 1798 for this purpose to confer immunity against smallpox. Cowpox and smallpox belong to the orthopox family of viruses.
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Cowpox virus, in contrast to vaccinia virus, can multiply in Chinese hamster ovary cells. To study the genetic basis for this difference in host range, recombinants between vaccinia and cowpox viruses were isolated and their DNA restriction patterns were examined. The ability to multiply in Chinese hamster ovary cells could be correlated with the conservation of cowpox virus sequences mapping at the left end of the genome. This was further demonstrated by marker rescue of the host range phenotype with restricted cowpox virus DNA. Marker rescue with cloned restriction fragments of decreasing size enabled the fine localization of the host range function to a 2.3-kilobase-pair fragment. Nucleotide sequencing revealed that the fragment encoded a single major polypeptide of approximately 77,000 daltons.
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Cowpox virus (CPV) expresses the serpin ([S]erine proteinase inhibitor) CrmA, an anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic protein required for production of red pocks on chicken chorioallantoic membranes (CAMs). In vitro, CrmA inhibits several caspases and granzyme B. Altering the critical P1-aspartate in the CrmA reactive centre loop to alanine resulted in a virus (CPV-CrmA-D303A) that resembled CPV deleted for CrmA (CPVCrmA : : lacZ); on CAMs it produced white, inflammatory pocks with activated caspase-3 and reduced virus yields, suggesting that CrmA activities are mediated via proteinase inhibition. CrmA in CPV was replaced with SERP2 from Myxoma virus (MYX) or baculovirus P35, which inhibit similar proteinases in vitro. SERP2 and P35 each blocked caspase-3-mediated apoptosis but were unable to control inflammation of CAMs. However, SERP2 and P35 restored virus yields, indicating that the decreased virus titres seen with CPVCrmA : : lacZ resulted from apoptosis rather than inflammation. To compare the activities of CrmA and SERP2 further, rabbits were infected with MYX recombinant viruses.
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Cowpox has been confirmed in elephants, rhinos, anteaters and okapis and large Felidae. In large cats, cowpox manifests with pulmonary involvement leading to death. The reservoir host appears to be rodents, and cows are now considered to be incidental hosts.
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Cowpox is found in both cattle and horses where it infects the udder and teats of the animals. When an infected animal is milked by hand it can be spread to the hand or fingers where it presents as a localized skin lesion.
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Cowpox