Positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus

A positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus (or (+)ssRNA virus) is a virus which has positive sense single stranded RNA as its genetic material. They can be positive or negative. This depends on the polarity of the RNA. The positive-sense viral RNA genome can serve as messenger RNA and can be translated into protein in the host cell.

Many of the known viruses are positive-sense RNA viruses, including the hepacivirus C, West Nile virus, dengue virus, SARS and MERS coronaviruses, and SARS-CoV-2^[1] as well as less serious pathogens such as the rhinoviruses that cause the common cold.^[2][3][4]