Pneumovirus

The genus Pneumovirus consists of pathogens that work to target the upper respiratory tract within their specific host species. Every pneumovirus is characterized as host specific, and has a range of diseases involved with respiratory illness. Pneumoviruses can range from a less-severe upper-respiratory illness to severe bronchiolitis or pneumonia. Pneumoviruses are found among sheep, cows, and most importantly humans. In humans, the pneumovirus that specifically impacts infants and small children known as the Human respiratory syncytial virus. Pneumoviruses have been traced by researchers from the Center for Disease Control and the University Medica Centre in Utrecht, Netherlands on how pneumoviruses attack infants and small children.