ICTV Virus Taxonomy Profile: Poxviridae 2023

Abstract

Poxviridae is a family of enveloped, brick-shaped or ovoid viruses. The genome is a linear molecule of dsDNA (128-375 kbp) with covalently closed ends. The family includes the sub-families Entomopoxvirinae, whose members have been found in four orders of insects, and Chordopoxvirinae, whose members are found in mammals, birds, reptiles and fish. Poxviruses are important pathogens in various animals, including humans, and typically result in the formation of lesions, skin nodules, or disseminated rash. Infections can be fatal. This is a summary of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) Report on the family Poxviridae, which is available at ictv.global/report/poxviridae.

Keywords: Chordopoxvirinae; Entomopoxvirinae; ICTV Report; Poxviridae; taxonomy.

Fig. 1.. Virion morphology. Electron micrographs of negatively-stained preparations of an orthopoxvirus mature virion (left); parapoxvirus mature virions (centre); and avipoxvirus virions displaying two lateral bodies (black arrows) either side of the ‘dumbbell’ core (white arrow) (right). Bars, 100 nm. Images courtesy of David J. Everest, Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA), Surrey, UK.

Fig. 2.. Schematic representation of the vaccinia virus Western reserve genome (AY243312) . Genes generally do not overlap, even when on different strands, giving a coding density of around 90 %.