Viruses are classified by phenotypic characteristics, such as morphology, nucleic acid type, mode of replication, host organisms, and the type of disease they cause.

This is an alphabetical list of biological virus families and subfamilies; it includes those families and subfamilies listed by the ICTV 2023 report. [1] For a list of individual species, see List of virus species. For a list of virus genera, see List of virus genera.

Virus taxonomy brings into sharp focus the debate about the true nature of viruses. A comprehensive classification system should define boundaries within what may at first appear as a continuum of properties. This is often most challenging at the …

A reconstructed tree is an approximation of the true phylogeny that practically remains unknown. The phylogenetic analysis is used in applied and fundamental virus research, including epidemiology, diagnostics, forensic studies, phylogeography, evolutionary studies, and …

Virus taxonomy differs from other types of biological classification because ICTV not only regulates a Code of Nomenclature but also considers and approves the creation of virus taxa (currently orders, families, subfamilies genera and species).

Viral families are subdivided in a variety of ways including into subfamilies (suffix virinae), genera (suffix virus), and species (suffix virus). The conventions for naming species are somewhat arbitrary and vary from family to family.

Feb 18, 2022 · We started with SARS-CoV-2, and then the virus mutated to give us variants. Some had numbers. Some were dubbed Alpha, Beta, etc. So what’s with this naming convention? And how related, really, are all these numbered and named viruses?

Classification of viruses is based on the collection and comparison of various characters that describe the virus, and can then be used to distinguish one virus from another.

According to the latest meeting of ICTV in March 2021, there are 10434 species, 2606 genuses, 168 subfamilies, 233 families and 65 orders of viruses. The ICTV began the process of naming and classification of viruses in the 1970s and the effort continues till today. The objectives of ICTV are: to maintain an Index of agreed names of virus taxa.

Mar 29, 2025 · There are 3 known subfamilies: Alphaherpesvirinae, consisting of human herpes simplex viruses types 1 and 2, bovine mamillitis virus, SA8 virus and monkey B virus, pseudorabies virus, equine herpesvirus, and varicella-zoster virus; Betaherpesvirinae, composed of species of cytomegaloviruses; and Gammaherpesvirinae, composed of genera familiarly ...