In viruses, the highest taxonomic rank is order; names of orders end in ales and are in roman. Names of families end inviridae, names of subfamilies end in virinae, and names of genera end invirus.
Scientific virus species names differ from those of other organisms: they are not in Latin, and the genus name is not usually part of the species name.
Family and genus names have an initial capital and italics
family Virgaviridae genus Tobamovirus
To distinguish between family and genus, precede a formal name with its taxonomic rank:
Many lyssaviruses, which are members of the family Rhabdoviridae, occur in bats or Most species in the genus Lyssavirus occur in bats
not
Most lyssaviruses, which are members of the Rhabdoviridae, occur in bats
In most contexts, the species name is in roman and lower case (but with an initial capital for proper nouns):
Murray Valley encephalitis virus tobacco mosaic virus rabies virus Ebola virus
Rabies, a disease that is usually fatal in humans, is caused by rabies virus
Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV; in the genus Tobamovirus) infects plants, especially tobacco and other members of the family Solanaceae<
However, when using a species name in a taxonomic context, use italics:
Tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is one of about 35 species in the genus Tobamovirus.
Virus species names can be designated by a number or other code, or by the disease that they cause:
parvovirus r-1 human herpesvirus 1 foot-and-mouth disease virus Rous sarcoma virus
Virus names may consist of 1 word or more than 1 word. If unsure whether to set a name solid or not, check in the current taxonomy release:
herpesvirus papillomavirus retrovirus but influenza virus rubella virus
