Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Biologically, the life of a mimivirus is not very different from that of
obligate intracellular bacteria (e.g. Rickettsia). The discovery of Class
Mimiviridae inspires biologists to reconsider the “non-living” status relegated
to viruses and compels taxonomists to examine the placement of viruses
within the phylogenetic development of prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms.
Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus is a possible human pathogen. Some
patients with pneumonia have been shown to have antibodies against the
virus [129].
Though Myxoma virus is not a human pathogen, it seems appropriate to
include some mention of this member of Class Poxviridae, due to the role
humans have played in its history. Myxoma virus produces a fatal disease,
myxomatosis, in rabbits. The disease is characterized by the rapid appear-
ance of skin tumors (myxomas), followed by severe conjunctivitis, systemic
symptoms, and fulminant pneumonia. Death usually occurs 2
14 days after
infection. In 1952, a French virologist, hoping to reduce the rabbit population
on his private estate, inoculated a few rabbits with Myxoma virus. The
results were much more than he had bargained for. Within two years, 90%
of the rabbit population of France had succumbed to myxomatosis.
European rabbits, introduced to Australia in the nineteenth century,
became feral and multiplied. By 1950 the rabbit population of Australia was
about 3 billion. Seizing upon the Myxoma virus as a solution to rabbit over-
population, the Australians launched a Myxoma virus inoculation program.
In less than ten years, the Australian rabbit population was reduced by 95%
[130]. Nearly 3 billion rabbits died, a number very close to the number of
humans living on the planet in the mid-1950s. This plague on rabbits was
unleashed by a committee of humans who decided that it was proper to use a
lethal rabbit virus as a biological weapon. Without commenting on the moral
implications of animal eradication efforts, it is worth noting that rabbits are
not the only mammals that can be exterminated by a pathogenic virus.
Humans should take heed.
Infectious species:
Adenoviridae: (type-specific clinical syndromes including respiratory,
including pharyngitic and pneumonic, conjunctival, gastroenteritic, or
bacteremic infections)
Human adenovirus A, types 12, 18, 31
Human adenovirus B, types 3, 7, 11, 14, 16, 21, 34, 35, 50, 55
Human adenovirus C, types 1, 2, 5, 6, 57
Human adenovirus D, types 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25,
26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 32, 33, 36, 37, 38, 39, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48,
49, 51, 53, 54, 56
Human adenovirus E, type 4
Human adenovirus F, types 40, 41
Human adenovirus G, type 52
