Douglass N, Dumbell K
Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Cape Town, Observatory, South Africa.
J Virol. 1992 Dec;66(12):7565-7. doi: 10.1128/JVI.66.12.7565-7567.1992.
Smallpox was eradicated more than 10 years ago, but infection with another Orthopoxvirus, monkeypox virus, can result in a clinical picture resembling smallpox. Human infection with monkeypox virus is extremely rare, not easily transmitted, and confined to the rain forest belt of Africa (Z. Jezek and F. Fenner, p. 81-102, in Human Monkeypox, 1988). Evidence that variola virus, the causative agent of smallpox, might be readily derived from monkeypox virus was presented [S. S. Marennikova and E. M. Shelukhina, Nature (London) 276:291-292, 1978; S. S. Marennikova, E. M. Shelukhina, N. N. Maltseva, and G. R. Matsevich Intervirology 11:333-340, 1979], but this was not confirmed [K. R. Dumbell and L. C. Archard, Nature (London) 286:29-32, 1980] and was subsequently discounted (J. J. Esposito, J. H. Nakano, and J. F. Obijeski, Bull. W.H.O. 63:695-703, 1985). Although enough difference between the genomes of monkeypox and variola viruses to rule out a simple interconversion has been demonstrated [K. R. Dumbell and L. C. Archard, Nature (London) 286:29-32, 1980; J. J. Esposito and J. C. Knight, Virology 143:230-251, 1985; J. J. Esposito, J. H. Nakano, and J. F. Obijeski, Bull. W.H.O. 63:695-703, 1985; M. Mackett and L. C. Archard, J. Gen. Virol. 45:683-701, 1979], the possibility that monkeypox virus was a more remote ancestor of variola virus remained. We have now identified a sequence in monkeypox virus DNA which is a homolog of a 1,065-bp open reading frame in the conserved region of the variola virus genome but which has multiple deletions. This is strong evidence that monkeypox virus is not ancestral to variola virus and strengthens confidence in the long-term success of smallpox eradication.
天花在十多年前就已被根除，但感染另一种正痘病毒——猴痘病毒，可能会导致类似天花的临床表现。人类感染猴痘病毒极为罕见，不易传播，且局限于非洲的雨林带（Z. 耶泽克和F. 芬纳，《人类猴痘》，1988年，第81 - 102页）。曾有证据表明天花的病原体天花病毒可能很容易从猴痘病毒衍生而来【S. S. 马连尼科娃和E. M. 舍卢希娜，《自然》（伦敦）276:291 - 292，1978年；S. S. 马连尼科娃、E. M. 舍卢希娜、N. N. 马尔采娃和G. R. 马特谢维奇，《病毒学杂志》11:333 - 340，1979年】，但这一观点未得到证实【K. R. 邓贝尔和L. C. 阿查德，《自然》（伦敦）286:29 - 32，1980年】，随后也被否定了（J. J. 埃斯波西托、J. H. 中野和J. F. 奥比耶斯基，《世界卫生组织公报》63:695 - 703，1985年）。尽管已经证明猴痘病毒和天花病毒的基因组之间存在足够差异，排除了简单的相互转化【K. R. 邓贝尔和L. C. 阿查德，《自然》（伦敦）286:29 - 32，1980年；J. J. 埃斯波西托和J. C. 奈特，《病毒学》143:230 - 251，1985年；J. J. 埃斯波西托, J. H. 中野和J F. 奥比耶斯基，《世界卫生组织公报》63:695 - 703，1985年；M. 麦基特和L. C. 阿查德，《普通病毒学杂志》45:683 - 701，1979年】，但猴痘病毒是天花病毒更遥远祖先的可能性仍然存在。我们现在已经确定猴痘病毒DNA中的一个序列，它是天花病毒基因组保守区域中一个1065碱基对开放阅读框的同源物，但有多个缺失。这有力地证明了猴痘病毒不是天花病毒的祖先，并增强了对天花根除长期成功的信心。
