Taksonomia rodzaju Lyssavirus

The article presents the current state of knowledge on the taxonomy of the genus Lyssavirus. Viruses belonging to Rhabdoviridae family cause acute encephalitis (inflammation of the brain) which almost irrevocably results in death. The best known representative of this genus is the rabies virus, which until the 1950s was regarded as unique. The use of serological and molecular methods allowed for the discovery a number of new lyssaviruses and the introduction of new terminology regarding the genus Lyssavirus on the basis of various criteria proposed by ICTV was needed. Currently, the Lyssavirus genus includes 14 species, but taking into account the number of new species discovered in recent years it can be hypothesized that such variations may increase in the future, adding new members.