Ectromelia virus
species of virus
Ectromelia virus (ECTV) is a virus of the family Poxviridae and the genus Orthopoxvirus that causes mousepox, a disease of mice. It has only been seen in mouse colonies kept for research purposes but believed that wild populations of mice and other rodents in Europe are naturally infected with ECTV. Mousepox causes skin lesions, a purulent rash on the body of mice, and generalized disease, which can be fatal. It is the only poxvirus to cause disease naturally in mice.
History
Ectromelia was first discovered in 1930 when scientists started to use mice as a model for examinations and experiments, and was first observed in a colony of laboratory mice in England.
The original Hampstead strain of ECTV was discovered in 1930 in a laboratory-mouse colony. Since then, other ECTV strains and outbreaks have been seen in Europe and the USA with differences in the severity of the disease.
Properties
The Ectromelia virus belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus of the family Poxviridae. It is a large virus with a complex structure. It has a block shape, with a size of 250-300 150-200 nm. The virus is covered by an outer shell with the villi.
“Ectromelia virus” enters the record as species of virus. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Ectromelia, virus and species can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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“Ectromelia virus” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Ectromelia, virus and species provides the most credible route into that argument.
The date and method of observation matter as much as the stated conclusion, especially where classification or consensus has changed. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1323732. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1930.
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This entry incorporates text from “Ectromelia virus” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.