− | Blue eye disease is caused by the virus '''''Blue-eye paramyxovirus (BEP)''''', which is a negative sense single stranded RNA (ssRNA) virus. It is closely related to the Mumps virus and Simian virus 5 and is clssified under the family ''Paramyxoviridae''. It causes '''nervous, reproductive''' and '''respiratory signs''' in its domestic host, the pig. The disease is not considered a zoonosis. | + | Blue eye disease is caused by the virus '''''Blue-eye paramyxovirus (BEPV)''''', which is a negative sense single stranded RNA (ssRNA) virus. It is closely related to the Mumps virus and Simian virus 5 and is clssified under the family ''Paramyxoviridae''. The virus is 135-148nm by 257-360nm, has anbuoyant density in sucrose gradients of 1.21 g/mland is considered to be mainly spherical although polymorphic. BEPV envelope is covered in surface projections and the envelope nucleocapsid expresses hemagglutinin-neuraminidase and fusion and matrix proteins. The virus consists of six structural proteins and is resistant to actinomycin D and '''sensitive''' to '''chloroform, formalin''' and '''beta propiolactone'''. |