ICTVdB

The Universal Virus Database, ICTVdB, is authorised by ICTV (International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses) and has been constructed by Cornelia Büchen-Osmond, from 1991-2000 in Bioinformatics Group, Australian National University, in consultation with ATCC and supported by NSF. In 2001 ICTVdB moved to the Biosphere 2 Center, the Western Campus of the Earth Institute, Columbia University of New York USA.

Virus taxonomy occupies a unique position between biology and logic, with each field following distinct rules for information processing. The role of taxonomy is to bridge these differences as effectively as possible. To achieve this, the Virology Division of the International Union of Microbiological Societies (IUMS) tasked the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV) with the responsibility of developing, refining, and maintaining a comprehensive universal virus taxonomy. The primary objective of this effort is to classify the vast array of known viruses into a unified system that accurately reflects their evolutionary relationships, or phylogenies.

The latest authoritative resource on virus taxonomy is theNinth Report of the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (2012), titled "Virus Taxonomy: Classification and Nomenclature of Viruses." Edited by A.M.Q. King, M.J. Adams, E.B. Carstens, and E.J. Lefkowitz, this report, published by Elsevier Academic Press in San Diego, serves as the definitive reference for virus classification.

• New York02.08.2025The Exploratorium
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  ICTV and ICTVdB Sites 

• a committee of the Virology Division in the International Union of Microbiological Societies developed since 1991 and maintained until 2006 by Dr Cornelia Büchen-Osmond.
• The latest virus taxonomy should be accessed from the ICTV site.