Swinepox

Poxvirus is a DNA virus composed of multiple branches having the capability to infect animals and/or humans and cause both cutaneous and systemic diseases, even resulting in death. Monkeypox virus infections in humans are breaking out worldwide and people ought to be wary of analogous viruses such as swinepox. Although swinepox does not cause zoonotic diseases, it is particularly important to prevent the infection and transmission of swinepox to pigs, which are important livestock for the global livestock industry. As a leading service provider in the life science industry, Creative Biolabs plays a key role in providing reliable viral products and one-stop solutions for antiviral drug discovery, which assist in preventing the economic loss of swinepox to the pig industry.

Fig1. Pig.

Background of Swinepox

Swinepox is an infectious poxvirus belonging to the genus Suipoxvirus, causing cutaneous papules and pustules in pigs. Swinepox is spreading worldwide with low incidence, while it is primarily present in the Midwest in the USA. Swinepox infection is frequently found in piglets at the age of 3-6 weeks. The clinical symptoms of the swinepox infection initiate from small red areas on the skin and develop into papules, pustules, or small vesicles, accompanied by mild fever, inappetence, and dullness. After a few days, the centers of the pustules get dry and scabbed, then become dark. The onset of the swinepox infection is acute and mild, only few pigs die of uncomplicated swinepox. Swinepox is abundant in the lesions that can be transmitted by direct contact and indirect mechanical vector, the biting pig louse. The swinepox virus differs from other poxviruses and presents no defense against vaccinia virus infection. Currently, there are neither effective anti-swinepox agents nor vaccines. Due to the importance of pork production in the livestock industry, developing novel effective drugs against swinepox is of vital importance.

Life Cycle of Swinepox

Creative Biolabs offer global customers support knowledge about the life cycle of swinepox, which provides opportunities to discover drug targets. Swinepox is a DNA virus. It enters the cells through receptor-mediated endocytosis by attachment of the viral proteins to glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) of the natural hosts, pigs. The transcription of swinepox is in the cytoplasm with virus-encoded multi-subunit RNA polymerase. The replication of swinepox is in the cytoplasm with virus-encoded DNA-dependent DNA polymerase and expresses structural proteins. Through the assembly by stroma, virus particle matures into intracellular mature virion (IMV) virion. IMV is released upon cell lysis or buds as external enveloped virion (EEV).

Fig.1 Swinepox virus. Ultrathin section of mature virion. (Ness, 2002)

Swinepox Services at Creative Biolabs

Equipped with an impressive platform and sophisticated technologies, Creative Biolabs is dedicated to delivering virus-related products and one-stop services for antiviral drug discovery. Our specialized solutions with high quality and sensitivity high-throughput screening, artificial intelligence, and in vitro and in vivo platforms empower our clients to study the infectious virus life cycle and develop drugs for each process. If you are interested in our services, please feel free to contact us.

Reference

1. Ness, T. L.; Moyer, R. W. Suipoxvirus. In The Springer index of viruses. 2002.