Cowpox finding could lead to new vaccines

ST. LOUIS, Nov. 17 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say the cowpox virus can keep infected host cells from warning the immune system that they have been compromised.

In a report from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, scientists said they found that strains of monkeypox prevalent in Central Africa likely have the same ability.

The study's authors said the finding will help efforts to design new vaccines for use against cowpox, monkeypox and smallpox. Researchers working on the next generation of poxvirus vaccines hope to minimize the risk of vaccination and to make the vaccines protective against a broader range of viruses, the university said Thursday in a release.

The findings are published in the current issue of the journal Cell Host and Microbe.