Walsh & Hoyt: Adenoviridae

The adenoviruses were discovered in 1953 by Rowe et al., who noted that adenoid tissue removed at the time of surgery spontaneously underwent a characteristic degeneration when maintained in culture for several weeks. These investigators isolated a virus from these degenerating tissues, and this virus, called ""adenovirus"" to denote its origin, could be serially passed in epithelial cells, producing typical cytopathic changes in infected cells. Subsequently, some 47 serotypes of adenovirus were identified. Although many serotypes have been shown to cause specific syndromes, a role in human disease remains obscure for more than half of the known types.