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Updated: Jul 12, 2026

Vaccinia Virus Infection & Temporal Analysis of Virus Gene Expression: Part 1
Published on: April 8, 2009
Human monkeypox and smallpox viruses: genomic comparison
S N Shchelkunov1, A V Totmenin, I V Babkin
1State Research Center of Virology and Biotechnology Vector, Koltsovo, Russia. snshchel@vector.nsc.ru
Abstract:
Monkeypox virus (MPV) causes a human disease which resembles smallpox but with a lower person-to-person transmission rate. To determine the genetic relationship between the orthopoxviruses causing these two diseases, we sequenced the 197-kb genome of MPV isolated from a patient during a large human monkeypox outbreak in Zaire in 1996. The nucleotide sequence within the central region of the MPV genome, which encodes essential enzymes and structural proteins, was 96.3% identical with that of variola (smallpox) virus (VAR). In contrast, there were considerable differences between MPV and VAR in the regions encoding virulence and host-range factors near the ends of the genome. Our data indicate that MPV is not the direct ancestor of VAR and is unlikely to naturally acquire all properties of VAR.
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