| Characteristics | Examples |
|---|
| Genetic material | |
| RNA | HIV, hepatitis A, polio, measles, mumps, rhinovirus, influenza |
| DNA | Herpesviruses, hepatitis B, adenoviruses, human papilloma viruses, cytomegalovirus |
| Hosts | |
| Humans | Measles, mumps, rubella, varicella-zoster, poliovirus |
| Humans and animals | Rabies, influenza, hantavirus, encephalitis virus |
| Plants | Tobacco mosaic virus, cowpea mosaic virus |
| Bacteria | Phages |
| Envelope | |
| Present | Herpesviruses, rabies, HIV |
| Absent | Rotavirus, Norwalk virus, adenovirus |
| Respiratory | Influenza, parainfluenza, hantavirus |
| Teratogenic | Varicella-zoster virus, cytomegalovirus, rubella |
| Neurological and fatal | Rabies |
| Paralytic encephalitic | Polio, many encephalitis viruses |
| Fulminant | Yellow fever, hantavirus, Ebola-Marburg |
| Latent | Herpesviruses |
| Cancer-causing | Human T-cell lymphotrophic virus, hepatitis viruses, papillomavirus |