TWiV #26 - Poxviruses

In episode 26 of This Week in Virology, hosts Vincent Racaniello, Alan Dove and guest Rich Condit converse about induction of polyomavirus replication in multiple sclerosis patients treated with the MS drug Tysabri, the extent of human polyomavirus infection, selection of influenza vaccines for the 2009-10 season, cowpox virus transmission from animals to humans, vaccinia-like virus infecting humans and cattle in Brasil, and poxviruses.

Links for this episode:

• JC virus, Tysabri, PML, and mefloquine at virology blog
• Seroepidemiology of polyomaviruses in human
• Next season’s influenza virus vaccines and how they are selected
• Cell-culture propagated smallpox vaccine
• Cowpox tranmission from rats to humans ( Germany and France) and from cats to humans in Italy
• Vaccinia-like virus infecting cows and humans in Brasil
• When good vaccines go wild (review)
• Mosquito Map (thanks Duncan)
• Pfeiffer & Kirkegaard paper on quasispecies and virulence in mice

Science blog of the week: Coevolvers by Devin Drown Science podcast pick of the week: QuackCast Science book of the week: Listen to the Music: The Life of Hilary Koprowski by Roger Vaughan