Here you’ll find 30 Viruses that start with P that begin with P, organized from “Papaya ringspot virus” to “Puumala virus”. They include human, animal, and plant pathogens relevant to public health, agriculture, and research.
Viruses that start with P are a varied group of viral species whose names begin with the letter P. For example, Papaya ringspot virus reshaped Hawaiian agriculture, while Puumala virus remains a notable European hantavirus.
Below you’ll find the table with Virus name, Classification, Affects humans?, Symptoms, Transmission, Notes & sources, and Last updated.
Virus name: The common or recognized name; you can scan this to locate specific viruses quickly.
Classification: Shows family/genus/species using ICTV terms so you can understand taxonomic relationships at a glance.
Affects humans?: States Yes or No, with a short qualifier like “zoonotic” or “opportunistic” to guide clinical relevance.
Symptoms: Summarizes common or typical human symptoms in five to ten words for quick clinical recognition.
Transmission: Lists the principal transmission method so you can assess exposure routes and prevention priorities.
Notes & sources: Gives brief context, notable hosts, and primary references such as WHO, CDC, or ICTV for verification.
Last updated: Shows the most recent review date so you know how current the information is.
Viruses that start with P
| Name | Classification | Affects humans? | Transmission & Symptoms | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poliovirus | Picornaviridae / Enterovirus / Enterovirus C | Yes – human-only | Fecal-oral; fever, paralysis, muscle weakness | Causes poliomyelitis with rare paralytic disease; near-elimination by vaccination campaigns worldwide (WHO) 2024-06 |
| Papillomavirus | Papillomaviridae / Alphapapillomavirus / Human papillomavirus (HPV) | Yes – human-only | Sexual, skin contact; warts, cervical lesions, cancers | Common sexually transmitted virus group; some types cause cancer (cervical, oropharyngeal); vaccine-preventable (ICTV/WHO) 2024-06 |
| Parvovirus B19 | Parvoviridae / Erythroparvovirus / Primate erythroparvovirus 1 | Yes – human-only | Respiratory droplets; rash, arthritis, aplastic crisis | Causes erythema infectiosum (fifth disease) in children; can trigger severe anemia in vulnerable patients (CDC) 2024-06 |
| Parainfluenza virus | Paramyxoviridae / Respirovirus / Human parainfluenza virus | Yes – human-only | Respiratory droplets; croup, bronchiolitis, fever | A common cause of pediatric respiratory illness and croup; multiple serotypes circulate seasonally (ICTV/CDC) 2024-06 |
| Powassan virus | Flaviviridae / Flavivirus / Powassan virus | Yes – zoonotic | Tick-borne; fever, encephalitis, neurological deficits | Tick-transmitted flavivirus in North America; can cause severe encephalitis with lasting deficits (CDC) 2024-06 |
| Puumala virus | Hantaviridae / Orthohantavirus / Puumala orthohantavirus | Yes – zoonotic | Rodent excreta; fever, renal impairment, hemorrhage | Causes a mild-to-moderate hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome in Europe; linked to bank voles (ICTV/WHO) 2024-06 |
| Pichinde virus | Arenaviridae / Mammarenavirus / Pichinde mammarenavirus | No – animal-only | Rodent contact, experimental; mild febrile illness in animals | Rodent-borne arenavirus used as a laboratory model for hemorrhagic fever research (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Peste des petits ruminants virus | Paramyxoviridae / Morbillivirus / Peste-des-petits-ruminants virus | No – animal-only | Respiratory contact; fever, pneumonia, high mortality in sheep/goats | Highly contagious disease of small ruminants with major agricultural impact; targeted for control (OIE/ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus | Arteriviridae / Betaarterivirus / Betaarterivirus suid 1 | No – animal-only | Direct contact, aerosols; abortions, respiratory disease in pigs | Economically important swine virus causing reproductive failure and respiratory illness (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus | Coronaviridae / Alphacoronavirus / Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus | No – animal-only | Fecal-oral; severe watery diarrhea, dehydration in piglets | Causes high mortality in neonatal pigs; major swine-enteric coronavirus (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Porcine deltacoronavirus | Coronaviridae / Deltacoronavirus / Porcine deltacoronavirus | No – animal-only | Fecal-oral; diarrhea and vomiting in piglets | Emerging swine coronavirus causing enteric disease; monitored in global swine populations (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Porcine circovirus 2 | Circoviridae / Circovirus / Porcine circovirus 2 | No – animal-only | Direct contact, fomites; wasting, reproductive failure in pigs | Small DNA virus linked to postweaning multisystemic wasting syndrome and reproductive losses (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Porcine circovirus 3 | Circoviridae / Circovirus / Porcine circovirus 3 | No – animal-only | Likely direct contact; multisystemic disease associations in pigs | Recently identified circovirus with potential links to disease; research ongoing (ICTV/peer-reviewed) 2024-06 |
| Porcine parvovirus | Parvoviridae / Protoparvovirus / Ungulate protoparvovirus 1 | No – animal-only | Vertical, contact; fetal death, stillbirths in sows | Major cause of reproductive failure in swine herds worldwide (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Porcine bocavirus | Parvoviridae / Bocaparvovirus / Porcine bocaparvovirus | No – animal-only | Fecal-oral, respiratory; enteric and respiratory signs in pigs | Diverse bocaparvoviruses found in pigs; role in disease often co-infectious (ICTV/peer-reviewed) 2024-06 |
| Pseudorabies virus | Herpesviridae / Varicellovirus / Suid alphaherpesvirus 1 | No – animal-only | Direct contact; neurological signs, high mortality in animals | Causes Aujeszky’s disease in pigs; rare human infections not established (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Punta Toro virus | Phenuiviridae / Phlebovirus / Punta Toro phlebovirus | No – animal-only | Arthropod-borne; febrile illness in animal models | Sandfly-associated phlebovirus used in research; limited known human disease (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Phocine distemper virus | Paramyxoviridae / Morbillivirus / Phocine morbillivirus | No – animal-only | Respiratory droplets; mass die-offs, neurological signs in seals | Morbillivirus causing large seal mortalities in marine environments (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Pneumonia virus of mice | Pneumoviridae / Murid pneumovirus / Murid pneumovirus | No – animal-only | Respiratory droplets; bronchiolitis, pneumonia in mice | Widely used laboratory model for RSV-like disease; affects laboratory rodents (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Papaya ringspot virus | Potyviridae / Potyvirus / Papaya ringspot virus | No – plant-only | Aphid-borne, mechanical; mosaic, fruit distortion in papaya | Major plant pathogen reducing papaya yields; long-studied agricultural threat (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Potato virus Y | Potyviridae / Potyvirus / Potato virus Y | No – plant-only | Aphid-borne, mechanical; mosaic, yield losses in potatoes | One of the most damaging potato viruses worldwide; many strains with variable symptoms (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Plum pox virus | Potyviridae / Potyvirus / Plum pox virus | No – plant-only | Aphid-borne; fruit deformity, yield loss in stone fruit | Causes sharka disease in plums, peaches and apricots; major horticultural concern (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Pepper mild mottle virus | Virgaviridae / Tobamovirus / Pepper mild mottle virus | No – plant-only | Mechanical, seed-borne; mosaic and fruit blemishes in peppers | Very stable plant virus commonly detected in foods and wastewater; useful fecal indicator in research (ICTV/peer-reviewed) 2024-06 |
| Picobirnavirus | Picobirnaviridae / Picobirnavirus / sp. | Yes – opportunistic | Fecal-oral; often asymptomatic, possible diarrhea in immunocompromised | Small bi-segmented RNA viruses found in humans and animals; pathogenic role debated (ICTV/peer-reviewed) 2024-06 |
| Piscine orthoreovirus | Reoviridae / Orthoreovirus / Piscine orthoreovirus | No – animal-only | Waterborne, contact; cardiac and skeletal muscle inflammation in salmon | Associated with heart and skeletal muscle inflammation in farmed salmon; aquaculture impact (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Pseudocowpox virus | Poxviridae / Parapoxvirus / Pseudocowpox virus | Yes – zoonotic | Direct contact with animals; localized skin nodules in humans | Parapoxvirus causing milker’s nodules in people handling cattle; self-limited cutaneous infection (ICTV/WHO) 2024-06 |
| Parrot bornavirus | Bornaviridae / Orthobornavirus / Parrot bornavirus | No – animal-only | Fecal-oral, contact; proventricular dilatation, neurological signs in birds | Causes proventricular dilatation disease in psittacines; important in avian medicine (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Porcine astrovirus | Astroviridae / Mamastrovirus / Porcine astrovirus | No – animal-only | Fecal-oral; enteritis in young pigs, diarrhea | Common enteric virus in pigs; often part of mixed infections (ICTV/peer-reviewed) 2024-06 |
| Porcine torovirus | Tobaniviridae / Torovirus / Porcine torovirus | No – animal-only | Fecal-oral; diarrhea in piglets, enteric disease | Torovirus detected in swine enteric disease; significance varies regionally (ICTV) 2024-06 |
| Porcine sapovirus | Caliciviridae / Sapovirus / Porcine sapovirus | No – animal-only | Fecal-oral; vomiting, diarrhea in piglets | Calicivirus group causing gastroenteritis in pigs; related to human sapoviruses (ICTV) 2024-06 |
Descriptions
Poliovirus
Papillomavirus
Parvovirus B19
Parainfluenza virus
Powassan virus
Puumala virus
Pichinde virus
Peste des petits ruminants virus
Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus
Porcine epidemic diarrhea virus
Porcine deltacoronavirus
Porcine circovirus 2
Porcine circovirus 3
Porcine parvovirus
Porcine bocavirus
Pseudorabies virus
Punta Toro virus
Phocine distemper virus
Pneumonia virus of mice
Papaya ringspot virus
Potato virus Y
Plum pox virus
Pepper mild mottle virus
Picobirnavirus
Piscine orthoreovirus
Pseudocowpox virus
Parrot bornavirus
Porcine astrovirus
Porcine torovirus
Porcine sapovirus