Lyssavirus

Aravan virus Australian bat lyssavirus Duvenhage virus European bat lyssavirus 1 European bat lyssavirus 2 Irkut virus Khujand virus Lagos bat virus Mokola virus Rabies virus West Caucasian bat virus

Lyssavirus (from a Greek word meaning frenzy) is a genus of viruses belonging to the family Rhabdoviridae, in the order Mononegavirales.

This group of RNA viruses includes the Rabies virus traditionally associated with the disease.

Viruses typically have either helical or cubic symmetry. Lyssaviruses have helical symmetry, so their infectious particles are approximately cylindrical in shape. This is typical of plant-infecting viruses. Human-infecting viruses more commonly have cubic symmetry and take shapes approximating regular polyhedra.

Lyssavirus Genome
Lyssavirus genomes consist of a negative-sense, single-stranded RNA molecule that codes for five different viral proteins, which include polymerase L, matrix protein M, phosphoprotein P, nucleoprotein N, and glycoprotein G.

Lyssavirus structure
The structure consists of a spiked outer envelope, a middle region consisting of protein M, and an inner ribonucleocapsid complex region, consisting of the genome associated with other proteins.

Lyssavirus Genotypes
Based on recent evidence, Lyssaviruses are categorized into seven major genotypes. In addition, there have been four genotypes recently discovered, and these are West Caucasian Bat virus, Aravan Virus, Khujand virus, and Irkut virus. The major genotypes include Rabies virus (genotype 1), Lagos bat virus (2), Mokola virus (3), Duvenhage virus (4), European Bat lyssaviruses 1 and 2 (5 and 6), and Australian bat lyssavirus (7). Based on biological properties of the viruses, these genotypes are further subdivided into phylogroups 1 and 2. Phylogroup 1 includes genotypes 1, 4, 5, 6, and 7, while phylogroup 2 includes genotypes 2 and 3. The nucleocapsid region of lyssavirus is fairly highly conserved from genotype to genotype across both phylogroups; however, experimental data has shown that lyssavirus strains used in vaccinations are only from the first genotype of the first phylogroup.

Animal Vectors for Lyssaviruses
Genotype 1, classic rabies, is prevalent throughout the world and can be carried by domesticated or wild animals. The other genotypes (types 2 through 7) have much less diversity in carriers. Only select hosts can carry each of the genotypes. Also, these other genotypes are particular only to a specific geographic area. Bats are known to be an animal vector for all but one of the seven genotypes, the one being Mokola virus.