Horsepox Virus

Horsepox virus (HSPV), often known as a poxviral disease of horses, is an OPV that causes horsepox. Horsepox was widespread before the 20th century but is now so uncommon that it is regarded as extinct. Horsepox has been reported in a variety of clinical manifestations, including a benign, localized variant known as contagious pustular stomatitis that causes lesions in the muzzle and buccal cavity and a widespread, seriously contagious form called equine papular stomatitis.

Background of Horsepox Virus

HSPV is a double-stranded DNA virus that belongs to the Orthopoxvirus genus of the Poxviridae family. The HSPV genome had features with other OPVs, including a core coding region bordered by two similar inverted terminal repeat (ITR) regions, and a 69 percent A+T nucleotide makeup. HSPV contained 236 ORFs that might code for proteins ranging in size from 53 to 1,920 amino acids. 182 of these 236 annotated ORFs may be full-length OPV gene homologues after 54 of them were significantly shorter or fragmented versions of 25 larger ORFs found in other OPVs.

Symptoms of Horsepox

HSPV, often known as a poxviral disease of horses, is an OPV that causes horsepox. Horsepox was widespread before the 20th century but is now so uncommon that it is regarded as extinct. Horsepox has been reported in a variety of clinical manifestations, including a benign, localized variant known as contagious pustular stomatitis that causes lesions in the muzzle and buccal cavity and a widespread, seriously contagious form called equine papular stomatitis. Horsepox has also been linked to a clinical illness known as "grease" or grease heel, an exudative dermatitis of the pasterns that is also linked to various viral and environmental factors. Equine molluscum contagiosum and Uasin Gishu sickness, two other poxviral infections of horses, are distinguished from horsepox clinically. Equine molluscum contagiosum, a moderate, self-limiting cutaneous condition like the human condition, is brought on by a virus related to the human condition.

Epidemiology of Horsepox

The sole horsepox virus genome that has been sequenced comes from the Mongolian isolate MNR-76 from 1976, which provides crucial details about the genetic connections between cowpox, horsepox, and vaccinia viruses. The horsepox virus genome is in the middle in size between the cowpox and vaccinia viruses. A phylogenetic analysis of the central conserved region of the horsepox virus revealed that it is closely related to but different from vaccinia. The horsepox virus genome sequence does contain genes that are fragmented in certain vaccinia strains, but it also contains fragmented sequences that are entire in some other vaccinia strains, which is an interesting observation. According to this observation, several horsepox virus strains may have acted as the ancestors of various vaccinia lineages.