Virus Taxonomy
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Taxonomy lies at the uneasy interface between biology and logic. The processing
of information follows somewhat different rules in these two systems and the role
of taxonomy is to reconcile them as tidily as possible. To this end, the
Virology Division of the
International Union of Microbiological Societies
(IUMS) charged the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
(ICTV) with the task of developing, refining, and maintaining a universal virus
taxonomy. The goal of this undertaking is to categorize the multitude of known viruses
into a single classification scheme that reflects their evolutionary relationships,
i.e. their individual phylogenies. The most recent report of the ICTV: "Virus taxonomy: classification
and nomenclature of viruses: Ninth Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. (2012)
Ed: King, A.M.Q., Adams, M.J., Carstens, E.B. and Lefkowitz, E.J. San Diego:
Elsevier Academic Press",
is the standard and definitive reference for virus taxonomy.
The official ICTV 2012 taxonomy is now available.
Select the taxonomy menu above or click here.
Select the taxonomy menu above or click here.
Number of recognized taxa for each taxonomy release:
(Click on year to view the appropriate taxonomy release)
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Support
ICTV gratefully acknowledges financial support from the
American Society of Virology (USA),
Society of General Microbiology (UK), and the
Virology Division of IUMS.
ICTV also very gratefully acknowledges
the support it receives from all its Executive Committee members,
Study Group members and National Representatives who volunteer a huge
amount of their time and financial support to ensure that ICTV continues
to function for the good of virology.
