Vesicular stomatitis virus

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is a Rhabdovirus, part of the order Mononegavirales. (The well-known Rabies virus belongs to the same family.) VSV can infect insects and mammals. It is considered harmless to humans, and is a common laboratory virus used to study the properties of viruses of the family Rhabdoviridae, as well as virus evolution.

Natural VSV infections encompass two steps, (1) cytolytic infections of mammalian hosts and (2) transmission by insects. In insects, infections are non-cytolytic persistent.