Types of viruses?

According to the Baltimore classification system, which was devised by David Baltimore, a Nobel-prize winning biologist, viruses can be placed into seven groups. These groups are the 'dsDNA' viruses, which include adeno, herpes and pox viruses; the 'ssDNA' viruses, such as parvo viruses; 'dsRNA' viruses, including the reo viruses; the '(+)ssRNA' viruses, which comprise of the picorna and toga viruses; the '(-ss)RNA' viruses, comprising of orthomyxo and rhabdo viruses; the 'ssRNA-RT', or 'retro' viruses and the 'dsDNA-RT' viruses, including all hepadna viruses.

• Viruses in Humans

Viruses can be the cause of common colds, influenza, herpes, respiratory and gastro-intestinal illnesses. Other viruses that could infect humans include the small pox, vaccinia, cow pox and monkey pox viruses, as well as the hepatitis B virus and the rubella virus, to name but a few among an extensive list.

• Other Viruses

There are a whole list of viruses that will only infect plants or specific species or types of animals. For more information on viruses and their effects, there is a brilliant article to be found in Wikipedia, from which it is also possible to access specific information with regards to the different types of viruses.

• Computer Viruses

Unfortunately, the question did not state whether it referred to the type of virus as detailed above, or computer viruses. There are various types of computer viruses or malware, including 'Trojan horses', 'worms', 'boot-sector', 'macro' and 'memory resident' viruses, as well as 'rootkit' or 'polymorphic' viruses and 'logic' or 'time bombs'.

Information on these different types of viruses, what they are and how they are likely to affect the functions of a computer, can be located at the TopChoice Reviews website. This site also gives helpful tips on what to do when a computer has fallen victim to a virus.