플라비바이러스속의 바이러스들은 크기가 40-65 나노미터 정도이고, 구대칭형이며, 핵산이 단일가닥 RNA이고, 전자현미경으로 보이는 등의 공통점을 공유한다. 또한 주로 절지동물(모기나 진드기)에 물림으로써 사람에게 감염된다. 사람이 절지동물에게 옮길 수는 없기 때문에 사람이 종결숙주가 된다. 다만 황열, 뎅기열, 지카는 예외적으로 동물 숙주 없이도 전염될 수 있도록 적응했기 때문에 예외다.
각주
↑The earliest mention of "yellow fever" appears in a manuscript of 1744 by John Mitchell of Virginia; copies of the manuscript were sent to Mr. Cadwallader Colden, a physician in New York, and to Benjamin Rush of Philadelphia; the manuscript was eventually reprinted in 1814. See:
The term "yellow fever" appears on p. 186. On p. 188, Mitchell mentions "... the distemper was what is generally called the yellow fever in America." However, on pages 191–192, he states "... I shall consider the cause of the yellowness which is so remarkable in this distemper, as to have given it the name of the Yellow Fever." Mitchell misdiagnosed the disease that he observed and treated, and the disease was probably Weil's disease or hepatitis. See: Saul Jarcho (1957) "John Mitchell, Benjamin Rush, and Yellow fever". Bulletin of the History of Medicine, 31 (2): 132–6.