Genome of Lumpy Skin Disease Virus

Capripoxviruses (CaPVs) represent one of eight genera within the chordopoxvirus (ChPV) subfamily of the Poxviridae. The capripoxvirus genus is currently comprised of lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV), sheeppox virus (ShPV), and goatpox virus (GPV). These viruses are responsible for some of the most economically significant diseases of domestic ruminants in Africa and Asia (18). CaPV infections are generally host specific and they have specific geographic distributions (10, 14, 15). CaPVs are, however, serologically indistinguishable from each other, able to induce heterologous cross-protection, and able in some instances to experimentally cross-infect (8, 10, 15, 16). Restriction fragment analysis and limited DNA sequence data support a close relationship between CaPVs (5, 25, 26, 33). The molecular basis of CaPV host range restriction and virulence remains to be elucidated. LSD is a subacute to acute cattle disease in Africa. It is characterized by extensive cutaneous lesions and signs typical of generalized poxvirus diseases (14, 15). Transmission of LSD between cattle is inefficient, and arthropod-vectored transmission may be significant in epizootic outbreaks and in the spread of LSD into nonenzootic regions (4, 10–12, 15, 36, 54). Attenuated LSDV strains and ShPV have been successfully used as LSD vaccines in enzootic and outbreak areas; however, vaccine failure and restrictions on the use of live virus vaccines create the need for a safe and effective, live attenuated vaccine (4, 13, 15, 53). Current molecular data on the LSDV genome consists of restriction endonuclease analysis, cross-hybridization studies, and limited transcriptional and DNA sequence analysis (5, 19, 20, 26, 27, 33). Given the economic significance of LSD, its potential for spread into nonenzootic regions, and the interest in developing more effective LSDV-based vaccines and expression vectors, we have sequenced and analyzed the genome of a pathogenic LSDV. These data provide the first view of a CaPV genome, and they define the gene complement that underlies LSDV virulence and host range.