ABSTRACT
Polyomavirus is the single genus within the family Polyomaviridae and contains at least 14 viral species, capable of infecting different mammalian species. Initially, the polyomavirus was a genus within the family Papovaviridae, which included also the genus papillomavirus. In 2000, the International Committee on the Taxonomy of Viruses separated these two genera into two different families: Polyomaviridae and Papillomaviridae.
