Saffold virus (SAFV) is a single-stranded RNA human virus belonging to the family ''

Picornaviridae Picornaviruses are a group of related nonenveloped RNA viruses which infect vertebrates including fish, mammals, and birds. They are viruses that represent a large family of small, positive-sense, single-stranded RNA viruses with a 30 nm i ...

''. Discovered in 2007, it is the first human virus in the genus ''

Cardiovirus Cardiovirus are a group of viruses within order ''Picornavirales'', family ''Picornaviridae''. Vertebrates serve as natural hosts for these viruses. Taxonomy There are currently six species in the genus: * ''Cardiovirus A'' * '' Cardiovirus B'' ...

'' and may provide a link to the development of

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

or other serious diseases in humans. The Saffold virus was previously a member of the Theilovirus species but was re-classified in 2019 as an isolate of the species ''Cardiovirus D''. It has shown to affect the gastrointestinal tract and respiratory systems, and is found to be present early in life.

Discovery

SAFV was discovered by Morris S. Jones in 2007 while working at the

David Grant USAF Medical Center The David Grant USAF Medical Center (DGMC) at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, is the United States Air Force's largest medical center in the continental United States and serves military beneficiaries throughout eight western sta ...

in the United States. The virus was isolated from a stool sample taken in November 1981 from an 8-month-old female with

fever Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a body temperature, temperature above the human body temperature, normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature Human body temperature#Fever, set point. There is not a single ...

of unknown origin. This is the first human virus in the genus ''Cardiovirus''. Found to occur in high prevalence (>90%) among humans, by analogy SAFV may have effects similar to those observed in mouse TMEV-induced

encephalomyelitis Encephalomyelitis is inflammation of the brain and spinal cord. Various types of encephalomyelitis include: * ''Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis'' or ''postinfectious encephalomyelitis'', a demyelinating disease of the brain and spinal cord, p ...

, in terms of catalyzing the development of human

or other serious diseases following infection early in life.

Strains

Eights strains of SAFV have been identified; these are named SAFV-1 through SAFV-8. Of these strains, SAFV-1 has a global distribution. The other strains have only been isolated from specific locations.

Structure

SAFV is composed of 8050 nucleotide long single-stranded RNA, and in diameter is 30 nm long icosahedral shaped capsid. Contained on both the 3' and 5' ends of the strand are untranslated regions (UTR) with the 5' UTR side being 1040 nucleotides (nt) long and the 3' side being 120 nt long. A poly(A) is located on the 3'UTR side, and contained on the 5'UTR side are internal ribosome entry sites (IRES).

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7398707 Cardioviruses

Discovery

Strains

Structure

See also

References