Herpesviridae

Herpesviridae

(hr″pēzvi´rô ide),
n one of the major virus families, to which the herpes simplex, varicella zoster, and Epstein-Barr viruses belong. Viruses in this family have a double-stranded linear molecular structure with icosahedral symmetry.

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Herpesviridae

a family of viruses, the members of which are about 150 nm in diameter, enveloped, with a nucleocapsid of about 100 nm in diameter, composed of 162 capsomers and contain a large, double-stranded DNA. The viruses replicate in the nucleus of the infected cell, where they induce the formation of a characteristic inclusion body; some also induce formation of a cytoplasmic inclusion body. The herpesviruses are classified into three subfamilies: (1) Alphaherpesvirinae, which are rapidly growing viruses that cause acute diseases, except Marek's disease which causes tumors in chickens; (2) Betaherpesvirinae, which are slow growing, highly cell-associated viruses, also called cytomegaloviruses, which produce subtle diseases with a prolonged clinical course; and (3) Gammaherpesvirinae, some of which produce low grade, prolonged clinical illness typified by infectious mononucleosus/glandular fever of humans, caused by Epstein-Barr virus, and probably a similar disease of horses caused by equine herpesvirus 2; the primate viruses are associated with tumors.

The important diseases of animals caused by herpesviruses are dealt with under their individual headings: aujeszky's disease, infectious bovine rhinotracheitis, infectious pustular vulvovaginitis, equine viral abortion, equine viral rhinopneumonitis, equine coital exanthema, equine herpesvirus 2 infection, the Allerton form of lumpy-skin disease, the generalized infection of cattle with bovine herpesvirus 2, bovine herpes mammillitis, the African 'wildebeest-associated' malignant catarrhal fever, canine herpesvirus respiratory, genital and neonatal infections, feline viral rhinotracheitis. In birds there are infectious laryngotracheitis, pigeon herpesvirus, duck plague and marek's disease.