Mimivirus - A New Respiratory Pathogen?
June 9, 2003
From Patricia Doyle, PhD
dr_p_doyle@hotmail.com
Hello, Jeff - I have been sorting through old ProMed posts to try to ascertain when the Monkeypox outbreak took place in Africa. If there have been no recent outbreaks, then infection via prairie dogs might not be likely.
In any event, I stumbled upon this post. It definitely caught my eye, especially noting that the virus has similiarities to a poxivurs. (a kin to Smallpox as well as MONKEYPOX.) Interesting.
In any event, even though this is not current news and took place in March, I thought it might be pertinent and something people should know about.
Patricia
MIMIVIRUS: A NEW RESPIRATORY PATHOGEN?
A ProMED-mail post <http://www.promedmail.org> ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases <http://www.isid.org>
Date: Fri 28 Mar 2003 From: ProMED-mail <promed@promedmail.org> Source: BBC News Online, Fri 28 Mar 2003 [edited] <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2895165.stm>
Mimivirus: Discovery of the World's Largest Virus ------------------------------------------------- The world's largest virus, a giant virus that lurks inside amoebae and may cause pneumonia in humans, has been discovered by scientists. "Mimivirus" is the biggest virus found so far, and was discovered in a sample taken from a water cooling tower in Bradford, UK, in 1992.
Amoebae, large single-celled organisms, are commonly found in air-conditioning systems in large buildings, and often harbour various bacteria and viruses inside them, which can go on to infect people working in those buildings. A report about the discovery was published on 28 Mar 2003 issue of the journal Science [Bernard La Scola, et al. A giant virus in amoebae. Science 28 Mar 2003: 2033].
It has at least 900 genes, an enormous number for a virus, and its size is more like that of a bacterium. It can be seen using a good optical microscope -- most viruses can only be visualised by electron microscopy. In terms of DNA, it is approximately a fifth bigger than the virus previously considered to be the largest in the world. Although it has been linked to pneumonia in humans, it is in no way related to the SARS virus currently sweeping the Far East.
The researchers from the National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris, France, who examined the virus and coined the name Mimivirus, said that blood samples from people with pneumonia had revealed antibodies for this virus, suggesting that their immune systems had come into contact with it at some point. They believe it is a virus because it lacks certain genes universal to bacteria, but contains others known to have key functions in viruses. The virus, while it has some genetic similarities to the family of viruses [the _Poxviridae_] that includes smallpox virus, has now been classed as the first of a completely new virus family, the _Mimiviridae_.
-- ProMED-mail <promed@ppromedmail.org>
[The previously known largest viruses belong to the families _Iridoviridae_ and _Poxviridae_. The iridoviruses infect invertebrates and poikilothermic vertebrates, whereas the poxviruses infect vertebrates and arthropods. The immune response to mimiviruses in pneumonia patients indicates exposure to antigen, but does not necessarily indicate a response to amplification of a pathogenic agent. Further characterization of these novel viruses is awaited with interest. - Mod.CP] .................cp/pg/dk
Patricia A. Doyle, PhD Please visit my "Emerging Diseases" message board at: http://www.clickitnews.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=emergingdiseases Zhan le Devlesa tai sastimasa Go with God and in Good Health
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