Caliciviridae

Calici- comes from the Latin word calix, which means "cup" or "goblet". This refers to the cup-shaped depressions on the surface of the virions of viruses in the family. The suffix -viridae is the suffix used for virus families. ==Taxonomy==

The following genera are recognized: • Bavovirus • Lagovirus • Minovirus • Nacovirus • Nebovirus • Norovirus • Recovirus • Salovirus • Sapovirus • Valovirus • Vesivirus A number of other caliciviruses remain unclassified, including the chicken calicivirus. ==Life cycle==

Viral replication is cytoplasmic. Entry into the host cell is achieved by attachment to host receptors, which mediate endocytosis. Replication follows the positive-stranded RNA virus replication model. Positive-stranded RNA virus transcription is the method of transcription. Translation takes place by leaky scanning, and RNA termination-reinitiation. Vertebrates serve as the natural host. Transmission routes are fecal-oral. == History ==

Establishing the viral etiology took many decades due to the difficulty of growing the virus in cell culture. In the 1940s and 1950s in the United States and Japan, caliciviridae could not be grown in culture, but as an experiment bacterial free filtrate of diarrhea was given to volunteers to check if viruses were present in volunteers' stool. These experiments demonstrated that nonbacterial, filterable agents had the capability of causing enteric disease in humans. In 1968, an outbreak at a Norwalk elementary school (e.g. Norwalk virus) in Ohio led to stool samples again being given to volunteers and serially passaged to other people. Finally, in 1972, Kapikian and his colleagues isolated the Norwalk virus from volunteers using immune electron microscopy, a process that involves looking directly at antibody-antigen complexes. The classification of this one Norwalk virus strain served as the prototype for other species and small round structured viruses later known as Norovirus. ==Animal viruses==

Rabbit hemorrhagic disease virus is a pathogen of rabbits that causes major problems throughout the world where rabbits are reared for food and clothing, make a significant contribution to ecosystem ecology, and where they support valued wildlife as a food source. == Uses ==

Australia and New Zealand, in an effort to control their rabbit populations, have intentionally spread rabbit calicivirus. ==References==