ABSTRACT
Papillomaviruses (PV) infect the superficial epithelium of many vertebrate species. As nonlytic viruses whose non-structural proteins alter the growth and differentiation of epithelial cells, this family of viruses produces lesions ranging from macroscopically undetectable disturbances of epithelial architecture to floridly protuberant warts. There are estimated to be in excess of 200 human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes [1], and these can be divided into several major phenotypic groups (Table 1).
