ABSTRACT
Human Parvovirus B19 was identied in 1975 [1] and classied as a member of the Parvoviridae family in 1985. The members of the large family of Parvoviridae, common animal and insect pathogens, were the smallest DNA-containing viruses able to infect mammalian cell until the recent identication of circoviruses [2]. The Parvoviridae family is currently divided into two subfamilies, Parvovirinae and Densovirinae based on their ability to infect vertebrate or invertebrate cells, respectively. Parvovirinae subfamily is divided into three genera according to the ability to replicate autonomously (genes Parvovirus), with helper virus (genes Dependovirus), or efciently and preferentially in erythroid cells (genus Erythrovirus). Parvovirus B19 is the only accepted member of the genus Erythrovirus [3]. For almost three decades Parvovirus B19 has been described as the only member of the Parvoviridae family, able to infect and cause illness in humans. This statement was correct until 2005 when a group from Sweden identied a new virus named Bocavirus as a member of Parvoviridae family associated with upper and lower respiratory tract disease and gastroenteritis in humans [4,5].
