Flaviviridae

The Flaviviridae are a family of viruses that are primarily spread through arthropod vectors (mainly ticks and mosquitoes). The family gets its name from Yellow Fever virus, a type virus of Flaviviridae; flavus means yellow in Latin. (Yellow fever in turn was named because of its propensity to cause jaundice in victims.) .

They include the following genera:

• Genus Flavivirus (type species Yellow fever virus, others include West Nile virus and Dengue Fever)—contains 67 identified human and animal viruses
• Genus Hepacivirus (type species Hepatitis C virus, the single member)
• Genus Pestivirus (type species Bovine virus diarrhea, others include classical swine fever or hog cholera)—contains viruses infecting non-human mammals

Flaviviridae have monopartite, linear, single-stranded RNA genomes of positive polarity, 9.6- to 12.3-kilobase in length. The 5'-termini of flaviviruses carry a methylated nucleotide cap, while other members of this family are uncapped and encode an internal ribosome entry site. Virus particles are enveloped and spherical, about 40-60 nm in diameter.

Major diseases caused by the Flaviviridae family include:

• Dengue fever
• Japanese encephalitis
• Kyasanur Forest disease
• Murray Valley encephalitis
• St. Louis encephalitis
• Tick-borne encephalitis
• West Nile encephalitis
• Yellow fever
• Hepatitis C Virus Infection

References