Bovine Vaccinia: Insights into the Disease in Cattle

Abstract

Bovine vaccinia (BV), caused by Vaccinia virus (VACV), is a zoonosis characterized by exanthematous lesions in the teats of dairy cows and the hands of milkers and is an important public health issue. Severe VACV-induced lesions in the teats and udder of cows and buffaloes could lead to mastitis and other secondary infections, thereby reducing productivity and resulting in economic losses to the dairy industry. In Brazil, BV re-emerged in the late 1990s and is now endemic in most of the Brazilian territory. In the last 15 years, much effort has been made to know more about this disease and its epidemiology, etiologic agents, and interactions with the host and the environment. In this review, we describe the known dynamics of VACV infection in cattle and the viral shedding routes, as well as the relevance of BV for animal and public health.

Species‐specific inhibition of antiviral protein kinase R by capripoxviruses and vaccinia virus

“…Cows are frequently infected by escaped VACV vaccine strains in India (also called buffalopox virus) and Brazil. [34][35][36] It is possible that the high sensitivity of cow PKR to K3 inhibition contributes to the frequent infections of cow with feral VACV.…”

“…It is interesting that VACV K3 inhibited cow PKR as well as mouse PKR, and that VACV expressing VACV K3 was the only virus that replicated to high viral titers and strongly inhibited eIF2α phosphorylation in BT cells. Cows are frequently infected by escaped VACV vaccine strains in India (also called buffalopox virus) and Brazil . It is possible that the high sensitivity of cow PKR to K3 inhibition contributes to the frequent infections of cow with feral VACV.…”

The Brighton Collaboration standardized template for collection of key information for risk/benefit assessment of a Modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine platform

“…In Brazil and in India VACV is endemic in animals, with occasional transmission to humans, and is thought to originate from smallpox vaccine campaigns. [41] , [42] , [43] , [44] , [45] 3.3. How is the wild type virus normally transmitted?…”

“…List any disease manifestations caused by the wild type virus, the strength of evidence, severity, and duration of disease for the following categories: In the healthy natural host There are reports of occurrence of vaccinia infection in dairy cattle, particularly in Brazil. The manifestation consists of painful vesiculopustular lesions [44] , [45] . [44] , [45] .…”

Molecular detection and phylogeny of bovine viral diarrhea virus 1 among cattle herds from Northeast, Southeast, and Midwest regions, Brazil

“…In the present study, we detected BVDV in 24% (29/117) of animals with clinical signs of ulcerative disease. The occurrences of ulcerative disease affecting livestock have been largely described in different regions of Brazil [24,25,[30][31][32][33]. Monitoring ulcerative disease is of high importance for livestock due to the economic burden associated especially with cattle industry [34] as well as the possibility their clinical signs may be confused with foot-and-mouth disease, a high-morbidity disease, which has a major factor for livestock trade when considering its economic impact [1][2][3][4].…”