Animal Viruses Attack Human

Many animal viruses are also important from a human medical perspective. The emergence of the SARS virus in the human population, coming from an animal source, highlight the importance of animals in harbouring infectious agents, avian influenza viruses can directly infect humans.

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) is the prototypic member of the Aphthovirus in the Picornaviridae family. FMDV is a highly variable and transmissible virus. Soon after infection, the single stranded positive RNA that constitutes the viral genome is efficiently translated using a cap-independent mechanism driven by the internal ribosome entry site element (IRES). This process occurs concomitantly with the inhibition of cellular protein synthesis, causes by the expression of viral proteases.