國際病毒分類委員會(英文:International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses,簡稱 ICTV)是国际微生物学联合会(英文:International Union of microgical Societies)发展、改进和维护通用病毒分类的唯一机构,在1966年建立起了一个病毒分类的通用系统和统一的命名法则。第七届 ICTV 会议首次规范化了病毒物种的概念,即病毒分类的分支层次中的最低分類單元[1]。分類的主要依據是病毒顆粒的特性、抗原特性與生物特性。
As defined therein, "a virus species is a polythetic class of viruses that constitute a replicating lineage and occupy a particular ecological niche". A“polythetic" class is one whose members have several properties in common, although they do not necessarily all share a single common defining one. Members of a virus species are defined collectively by a consensus group of properties. Virus species thus differ from the higher viral taxa, which are“universal”classes and as such are defined by properties that are necessary for membership.
^Mayo, M.A. Developments in plant virus taxonomy since the publication of the 6th ICTV Report. International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. Arch. Virol.. 1999, 144 (8): 1659–1666. PMID 10486120. doi:10.1007/s007050050620.
^de Villiers, E.M.; Fauquet, C.; Broker, T.R.; Bernard, H.U. & zur Hausen, H. Classification of papillomaviruses. Virology. 2004, 324 (1): 17–27. PMID 15183049. doi:10.1016/j.virol.2004.03.033.