Standardization of the nomenclature for genetic characteristics of wild-type rubella viruses

Overview

A meeting was organized at WHO headquarters on 2ñ3 September 2004 to discuss standardization of a nomenclature for describing the genetic characteristics of wild-type rubella viruses. This report summarizes the outcomes of that meeting. The main goals of the meeting were to provide guidelines for describing the major genetic groups of rubella virus and to establish uniform genetic analysis protocols. In addition, development of a uniform virus naming system, rubella virus strain banks and a sequence database were discussed.