However, they carry the
parapox virus which can be passed to red squirrels which do not have immunity from the disease.
Grey squirrels carry the squirrelpox virus, also called squirrel
parapox virus, which is destroying the red squirrel population in the UK.
The Red Squirrel Survival Trust (RSST) has about PS2.5m to spend on eradicating greys, which carry the lethal
parapox virus which directly affects the red squirrel population.
The causative agent is paravaccina/
parapox virus which is DNA virus by nature.
Contagious ecthyma (CE) is a contagious specific skin-disease of small ruminants, caused by a
parapox virus of family poxviridae (Savory et al., 2000).
Specialist research carried out by the University of Liverpool discovered that an adult native red that contracted the fatal disease - called
parapox virus - fought it off and lived.
Orf (ecthyma contagiosum) is considered an uncommon zoonotic viral infection caused by a
Parapox virus, which results in ulcerative stomatitis in mainly sheep and goats.1 The disease may be transmitted to humans by direct or indirect contact of damaged skin with infected animals.
The
parapox virus is carried by grey squirrels - which are immune to it - but it is highly contagious and passes on to the reds, which have no immunity from it.
The return of the
Parapox virus is a blow to efforts to rebuild Ainsdale and Formby's population after reds were decimated by the disease three years ago.
That's bad enough, but greys also carry
parapox virus, which rarely harms them, but is lethal to reds.
Dr Colin McInnes, of the Moredun Institute in Scotland, is carrying out research on the role of the
parapox virus in the decline of the red squirrel.
Thousands of the animals have been wiped out by the
parapox virus, which is spread by the larger grey squirrels, who are immune.
