Why do poxviruses still matter?

Abstract

Poxviruses comprise many members that infect both vertebrate and invertebrate animals, including humans. Despite the eradication of the historically notorious smallpox, poxviruses remain significant public health concerns and serious endemic diseases. This short review briefly summarizes the present, historical, and future threats posed by poxviruses to public health, wildlife and domestic animals, the role poxviruses have played in shaping modern medicine and biomedical sciences, the insight poxviruses have provided into complex life processes, and the utility of poxviruses in biotechniques and in fighting other infectious diseases and cancers. It is anticipated that readers will appreciate the great merit and need for continued strong support of poxvirus research; research which benefits not only the expansion of fundamental biological knowledge but also the battle against diverse diseases.

Keywords: Animal health; Biodefense; Oncolytic therapy; Poxvirus; Public health; Smallpox; Vaccine vector; Vaccinia virus; Virology.

Fig. 1

Correlation coefficiency of life expectancy and number of deaths from smallpox per 1000 population from 1774 to 1899 in Sweden. Shown data points are for years available. Data was extracted from https://ourworldindata.org/smallpox

Fig. 2

A perspective on poxvirus research