The transmission of hepadnaviruses between their natural hosts, humans, non-human primates, and birds, including intra-species host transmission and cross-species transmission, is a topic of study in virology.
Hepadnaviruses are a family of viruses that can cause liver infections in humans and animals. They are Group VII viruses that possess double-stranded DNA genomes and replicate using reverse transcriptase. This unique replication strategy, combined with their extremely small genomes and a very narrow host and tissue tropism, has distinguished them enough to be classified in the family Hepadnaviridae.[1] There are two recognized genera: