Orf virus is the prototype parapoxvirus that causes the contagious skin disease orf. It encodes an orthologue of the cytokine interleukin (IL)-10. Recombinant orf viruses were constructed in which the viral interleukin-10 (vorfIL-10) was disabled (vorfIL-10ko) and reinserted (vorfrevIL-10) at the same locus and compared to wild-type virus for their ability to induce skin lesions in sheep. After...

The recent description and characterization of several novel unique lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) strains have revealed the inadequacy current techniques for differentiating between vaccine- wild-type viruses. lack reliable sequencing targets promptly distinguishing circulating recombinant vaccine-like (RVLSs) highlights need to develop a single simple differentiation tool. In this study, we ...

Parapoxvirus infection in sheep and goats is usually referred to as contagious pustular dermatitis/ecthyma, or orf, and the corresponding human infection is referred to as orf. In humans, after a brief incubation period of 3 to 5 days, lesions begin as pruritic erythematous macules and then rise to form papules, often with a target appearance. Lesions become nodular or vesicular, and orf lesion...

The open-shell iron pentacarbonyl cation [Fe(CO)5].+ was isolated by deelectronation, i.e., the single-electron oxidation of parent neutral Fe(CO)5 using [phenazineF].+ as [Al(ORF)4]− and [F-{Al(ORF)3}2]− salt (RF=C(CF3)3; phenazineF=perfluoro-5,10-bis(perfluorophenyl)-5,10-dihydrophenazine). [Fe(CO)5].+[Al(ORF)4]− fully characterized (scXRD analysis, IR, NMR, EPR, 57Fe spectroscopy, CV SQUID m...

A survey amongst sheep and goat producers and veterinarians was undertaken to collect epidemiological data on orf in South Africa. Previous epidemiological studies on the presence of the disease in the country have not been documented and this report is the first descriptive epidemiological study of orf in South Africa. A seven-month investigation, realised by direct and indirect interviews...

Human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) has been identified as the causative agent for all forms of Kaposi's sarcoma and is also associated with the development of body cavity-based B-cell lymphomas and multicentric Castleman's disease. HHV-8 genomes are now classified into five major subtypes (A-E) that reflect sequence heterogeneity in the highly variable open reading frame (ORF) K1. To identify HHV-8 su...

Herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) is a neurotropic pathogen of humans that establishes latent infection in the sensory ganglia innervating the site of primary infection. A number of genes control HSV-1 pathogenicity and latency. Open reading frame P (ORF P) is one of these genes that might have a role in latency and pathogenesis. A complication in the analysis of the role of ORF P in the HSV-...