Sea star-associated densovirus (SSaDV) belongs to the Parvoviridaefamily. Like the other members of its family, it is a single-stranded DNA virus. SSaDV has been suggested to be an etiological agent of sea star wasting disease, but conclusive evidence has not yet been obtained.[1] Further work in 2018 and 2020 re-examined the association between SSaDV and sea star wasting and found no evidence in both the original work and subsequent surveys of sea stars.[2][3] More recently, densoviruses associated with echinoderms were recognized as forming persistent infections in their hosts [4] and become endogenized within sea star genomic DNA.[3] Densoviruses including SSaDV become more pronounced during sea star wasting progression, but no single strain is associated with sea star wasting disease.[5]
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