Lyssavirus, also known as rabies virus group, is a genus of bullet-shaped RNA viruses in the family Rhabdoviridae, order
Mononegavirales. The Rhabdoviridae family has five genera that affect
invertebrates,
vertebrates, and plants. Among other viruses in the family is one that causes vesicular stomatitis, a disease affecting horses, cattle, and pigs.
There are six species of lyssavirus, but only the rabies species infects in humans on any regular basis. The others are found primarily in vertebrates and invertebrates in Europe and Africa. One newly identified species occurring in Australian fruit bats has been found to cause encephalitis in humans. This cross-species infection is the second case of its type in Australia, where a morbillivirus found in horses was transmitted to humans in 1994.