Caliciviruses

Caliciviruses were first isolated from animals in 1932, and in 1976 were found in feces of children suffering from acute gastroenteritis. Now they are separated into an independent family - Caliciviridae.

Virions have a spherical shape and a diameter of 37 nm, there is no supercapsid. The genome is represented by a positive single-stranded RNA with a mass of about 2.6-2.8 MD. With negative-contrast microscopy, 32 deep (about 10 nm) cup-shaped impressions are found on the surface of the virions, which served as the basis for giving them the name caliciviruses (Greek calyx-bowl). Caliciviruses do not multiply in cell cultures, this makes it difficult to detect them. For diagnostics, the method of immune electron microscopy is mainly used.