User:WildcatRed1/sandbox

A Short Analysis of "Cowpox"
The article is very thorough on the history of the virus, but has nothing on the life cycle or structure of the virus. This is a clear difference from the Dengue virus which has sections on life-cycle and structure (with sub-sections for specific proteins and genomes. There is also little information as to the symptoms of the disease in cows or humans. Cowpox could use much more scientific information as opposed to purely historical information.

Initial Outline for "Cowpox" addition
The best addition I could make would be new paragraph on the life-cycle and structure of the Cowpox virus. The key points will be:

- Classification and structure of virus (enveloped vs. non, what sort of genomic material, etc.)

- Method of infection

- Place of replication, means, etc.

I will use the following review articles, plus other possible reviews as I find them: "Zoonotic Poxviruses Associated with Companion Animals," "Structural Conservation and Functional Diversity of the Poxvirus Immune Evasion (PIE) Domain Superfamily," and "Cowpox virus infection: an emerging health threat."

Taxonomy of Cowpox
Cowpox is a member of the Poxviridae family of viruses, in the genus Orthopoxvirus. These are dsDNA viruses, part of Baltimore Group I. These are very large and complex enveloped viruses with a single, large, linear dsDNA virion. Cowpox typically infects through the skin, causing lesions at the place of contact with the infected host. Cowpox has a large range of possible hosts, ranging from cattle, to rats, to humans. In animal hosts, the symptoms can range from asymptomatic to death: in humans it generally appears as a localized lesion. Today, it is primarily found in Europe and Western Asia in wild rodents.