Attenuation of a vaccine strain of vaccinia virus via inactivation of interferon viroceptor

Background Interferons (IFNs) play an important role in host antiviral responses, but viruses, including vaccinia viruses (VV), employ mechanisms to disrupt IFN activities, and these viral mechanisms are often associated with their virulence. Here, we explore an attenuation strategy with a vaccine strain of VV lacking a virus-encoded IFN-γ receptor homolog (viroceptor).