Bunyaviridae

Bunyavirales is an order of negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. It is the only order in the class Ellioviricetes. It was formerly known as Bunyaviridae family of viruses. The name Bunyavirales derives from Bunyamwera, where the original type species Bunyamwera orthobunyavirus was first discovered. Ellioviricetes is named in honor of late virologist Richard M. Elliott for his early work on bunyaviruses. Bunyavirales is an order of negative-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. It is the only order in the class Ellioviricetes. It was formerly known as Bunyaviridae family of viruses. The name Bunyavirales derives from Bunyamwera, where the original type species Bunyamwera orthobunyavirus was first discovered. Ellioviricetes is named in honor of late virologist Richard M. Elliott for his early work on bunyaviruses. In 2017, the ICTV reclassified the family Bunyaviridae as Bunyavirales, a taxonomic shift from a family of viruses to an order of viruses. The body made these decisions in a 2016 convening in Budapest. Primary reasons for this alteration revolve around these observations: approximately half of viruses in the former Bunyaviridae were at the time unassigned to a genus; novel viruses discovered that were characteristic of and clustered around Bunyaviridae based on phylogenetic analyses had bi-segmented genomes (as opposed to Bunyaviridae's tri-segmentation); and plant viruses also lacking tri-segmentation were previously known to be 'bunya-like' yet were not properly assigned to the family Bunyaviridae based upon the past taxonomic classifications. All five genera formerly in the family Bunyaviridae (Hantavirus, Nairovirus, Orthobunyavirus, Phlebovirus, Tospovirus) are now novel viral families, some of which have been combined. These new families include: Hantaviridae, Feraviridae, Fimoviridae, Jonviridae, Nairoviridae, Peribunyaviridae, Phasmaviridae, Phenuiviridae, and Tospoviridae. This order of viruses belong to the fifth group of the Baltimore classification, the so-called negative-sense single stranded ribonucleic acid (−)ssRNA. They are enveloped RNA viruses. Though generally found in arthropods or rodents, certain viruses in this order occasionally infect humans. Some of them also infect plants. A majority of bunyaviruses are vector-borne. With the exception of Hantaviruses and Arenaviruses, all viruses in the Bunyavirales order are transmitted by arthropods (mosquitos, tick, or sandfly). Hantaviruses are transmitted through contact with deer mice feces. Incidence of infection is closely linked to vector activity, for example, mosquito-borne viruses are more common in the summer. Human infections with certain members of Bunyavirales, such as Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever orthonairovirus, are associated with high levels of morbidity and mortality, consequently handling of these viruses must occur with a Biosafety level 4 laboratory. They are also the cause of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome. Hanta virus or Hantavirus Hemorrhagic fever, common in Korea, Scandinavia, Russia, and western North America, is associated with high fever, lung edema and pulmonary failure. Mortality is around 55%. The antibody reaction plays an important role in decreasing levels of viremia.