• Cowpox virus is member of the orthopoxvirus group in the family Poxviridae Other orthopoxviruses include smallpox virus, now eradicated, vaccinia virus (the modern smallpox vaccine), infectious ectromelia virus of mice, monkeypox and camelpox viruses, and racoonpox and California volepox viruses.
• All the orthopoxviruses are very closely related and antigenically extremely similar. However, each can be identified by a combination of biological minor serological differences and genome analysis.
• The orthopoxviruses must not be confused with the parapoxviruses such as pseudocowpox and orf viruses. Although both genera are members of the Poxviridae, each genus has a different morphology of the virus particle and there is no useful immunological relationship between the two.

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