Poxvirus

Any of a group of viruses constituting the family Poxviridae, responsible for a wide range of pox diseases in human beings and other animals. Poxvirus was the cause in human beings of smallpox (q.v.), which was declared eradicated worldwide in 1977. (Chicken pox of human beings is caused by a herpesvirus; see herpes zoster.) The virus particle is somewhat brick-shaped, with the