Walsh & Hoyt: Reoviridae

The family Reoviridae contains nonenveloped viruses that contain segmented, double-stranded RNA. The name of this family is an acronym derived from respiratory-entero, the main systems affected by the viruses. There are six genera in this family with widely differing host ranges and somewhat different morphologies. Nevertheless, all viruses in this family possess a genome consisting of 1012 segments of double-stranded RNA. Four genera in this family cause human disease: Orbivirus, Coltivirus, Orthoreovirus, and Rotavirus. Except for Colorado tick fever, a disease that may be complicated by meningoencephalitis, the reoviruses are not common causes of either ocular or neurologic disease, but they are mentioned here for the sake of completeness.