August 27, 2004

Orf???

From my current read, Richard Preston's The Demon in the Freezer:
There are two principal kinds of poxviruses: the poxes of vertebrates and the poxes of insects. Pox hunters have so far discovered mousepox, monkeypox, skunkpox, pigpox, goatpox, camelpox, cowpox, pseudo-cowpox, buffalopox, gerbilpox, several deerpoxes, chamoispox, a couple of sealpoxes, turkeypox, canarypox, pigeonpox, starlingpox, peacockpox, sparrowpox, juncopox, mynahpox, quailpox, parrotpox, and toadpox. There's mongolian horsepox, a pox called Yaba monkey tumor, and a pox called orf. There's dolphinpox, penguinpox, two kangaroopoxes, raccoonpox, and quokkapox. (The quokka is an Australian wallaby.) Snakes catch snakepox, spectacled caimans suffer from spectacled caimanpox, and crocodiles get crocpox.

What? No chickenpox?

UPDATE: Ken and I were discussing this mysterious pox named Orf. We're pretty sure it's named Orf because that's the only sound you get to make before it kills you.

OSRIC: "What ho, Theodoric! Thou doesn't looketh too good. What be ye ailment?"
THEODORIC: ".....Orf!!" (drops dead)

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