Chicken Pox
Hallie Herndon
Virus Information
The Chicken Pox virus, also known as Varicella-zoster virus (VZV) is a herpes virus. The genetic material inside VZV is DNA. This virus is specific to humans only. Animals can't get it, nor have their own form of it. It is still unclear what makes the virus go into latency, or what triggers it to come out. Since so little is known about the steps between latency and reactivation its hard to know the life cycle of the virus. What we do know is that it reproduces the same way most viruses to by attaching to host cell and inject, then multiple in virus.
Symptoms, Transmission, Treatment
The virus can be contracted by someone sneezing or coughing, or touching a surface that has the virus and then touching your mouth or nose. When you contract the virus you will get a red, blister like rash. Flu- like symptoms can accommodate the rash. There is not treatment.