Classification
Group: V (Negative Sense ssRNA Virus)
Order: Mononegavirales
Family: Rhabdoviridae
Genus: Novirhabdovirus
Species: Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia virus
Virus Classification, contrary to classifications of life, start at
the level Group.
The virus is classified into group V (5) because of the type of genetic
material it posesses. It has RNA as opposed to DNA, and possesses RNA of
the single stranded, negative-sense type.
The virus fits into the order Mononegavirales, which feature
non-segmented RNA. The prefix mono- means one, and refers to the whole,
unbroken strand of RNA which this order of viruses possesses. Nega-
refers to the negative-sense type of this RNA, while the -virales
portion of the word indicates that it is a virus.
The family, Rhabdoviridae, consists of viruses that are rod shaped, and
carry genetic code for five proteins. The prefix, Rhabdo- comes from the
greek word, Rhabdos which means rod. This is a reference to the shape of
the virus, though some have compared the shape to somewhat more of a
bullet than a rod.
Novirhabdovirus species are viruses that contain a sequence of
nucleotides that should code for a protein, however the viruses that
contain this code lack said protein. This result led scientists to call
this genus the, "no viron" genus. This translates into the Novir- prefix
added to Rhabdovirus.
This is a phylogenetic tree of Rhabdoviruses, featuring the VHS
virus. VHSV is placed into a group with SHRV, IHNV and HIRRV because
that is it's genus, as explained above. All of these viruses carry
similar genomes as well as feature the characteristic "no viron" gene
sequence that makes up this genus. This molecular-based tree was made
from gene sequences.
The name Viral Hemorrhagic Septicemia simply refers to the nature of the virus: one that causes mild to severe hemorrhaging. Septicemia simply refers to the state of infection of the fish.