The taxonomy of vertebrate viruses

Abstract Viruses that infect vertebrates (i.e. humans and higher animals) exhibit great diversity. They also create a variety of diseases that arise from interaction with their vertebrate hosts. This review presents the diversity of the biological and molecular properties of vertebrate viruses that aid their transmission and survival using the currently accepted taxonomic system. The Universal System of Virus Taxonomy has been developed to its present state through a series of 8 Reports, the most recent of which was published in 2005. The system of taxonomy adopted by the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) is flexible enough to embrace the continual discovery of new viruses from an ever-increasing diversity of host organisms. New vertebrate viruses continue to be discovered, such as the human pathogens herpes virus 6, 7 and 8 and the SARS coronavirus. All these viruses have been fitted into the lower levels of the existing taxonomy as new species or new genera