Abstract
The vaccinia virus (VACV), which causes exanthemous lesions in dairy cattle and humans, has been associated with several bovine vaccinia outbreaks in Brazil. Currently, no data are available about the safety of milk produced in VACV-affected areas. In this study, 47 milk samples were collected during bovine vaccinia outbreaks and submitted to viral isolation, DNA detection, and nucleotide sequencing of the conserved tk gene. The appearance of characteristic white pocks on the chorioallantoic membranes of chicken eggs, in association with viral cytopathic effects in chicken embryo fibroblasts and phylogenetic data, strongly suggest milk contamination by VACV. This is the first report of VACV detection in and isolation from milk.
MeSH terms
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Animals
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Biological Assay
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Brazil / epidemiology
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Cattle
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Cattle Diseases / epidemiology*
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Cattle Diseases / transmission
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Cattle Diseases / virology
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Chick Embryo
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DNA, Viral / metabolism
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Disease Outbreaks / veterinary*
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Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
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Milk / virology*
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Peptides / genetics
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Peptides / metabolism
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Phylogeny
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Polymerase Chain Reaction
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Thymidine Kinase / genetics
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Thymidine Kinase / metabolism
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Vaccinia / epidemiology
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Vaccinia / transmission
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Vaccinia / veterinary*
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Vaccinia / virology
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Vaccinia virus / isolation & purification*
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Vaccinia virus / metabolism
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Virion / isolation & purification
Substances
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DNA, Viral
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Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
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Peptides
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vaccinia growth factor
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Thymidine Kinase