Mousepox: A Small Animal Model for Biodefense Research

Ectromelia virus is the causative agent of the disease mousepox. Mousepox is arguably the best small animal model available for the study of smallpox. This model is under utilized due to ectromelia virus’ potential to cause explosive epizootics in mouse colonies; however, with modern animal husbandry techniques and biocontainment facilities, these concerns are no longer founded. The mousepox model is used to study basic questions in pathogenesis, to evaluate prophylactic and therapeutic treatments for smallpox, and to develop countermeasures to orthopoxviruses bioengineered for enhanced virulence, transmissibility, or the ability to break-through vaccine immunity. Some of the “dual use” knowledge gained from these experiments can be used for the improvement of human welfare or, in the wrong hands, the generation of biological weapons. The Institutional Biosafety Committee will likely become an important component in the evaluation of dual use technology.