The Ultimate List of Sizes for Viruses

This page may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something through one of the links, we may receive a commission at no extra charge to you.

Viruses come in various sizes, starting from a small diameter of around 17 nanometers (Porcine Circovirus) and going all the way up to about 500 nanometers (Mimivirus).

Though most viruses are spherical in shape (influenza), there are some that are helical (Rabies) or polyhedral (Adenovirus), not to mention the complex ones (Bacteriophage).

We wanted here to list the size, including diameter and length, of some major types of viruses. This will help to serve as a quick reference for anyone looking for this information online.

Please note we didn’t include any viruses with complex shapes since those are obviously more complicated to define their size. Also, all values are listed in nanometers.

Size of Spherical and Polyhedral Viruses

Here are the diameters of viruses in nanometers (nm):

Virus NameDiameter (nm)
Adenovirus73
Astrovirus29
Avian Influenza A virus100
Banna virus74
Barmah Forest virus70
Batai virus90
Beiji Nairovirus95
Bunyamwera virus95
Chikungunya virus70
Colorado Tick Fever virus80
Coronavirus100
Coxsackievirus26
Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus100
Cytomegalovirus175
Dabie Bandavirus90
Dengue virus50
Dugbe virus90
Eastern Equine Encephalitis virus63
Echovirus30
Encephalomyocarditis virus30
Enterovirus29
Epstein-Barr virus150
Getah virus70
Hantaan virus100
Hendra virus295
Hepatitis A virus28
Hepatitis B virus42
Hepatitis C virus70
Hepatitis Delta virus36
Hepatitis E virus31
Hepatitis G virus50
Human Bocavirus22
Human Cosavirus30
Human Foamy virus105
Human Herpesvirus128
Human Immunodeficiency virus120
Human Influenza virus100
Human Metapneumovirus209
Human Papillomavirus55
Human Parainfluenzavirus200
Human Parvovirus22
Human T-lymphotropic virus100
Japanese Encephalitis virus50
Junin Arenavirus120
La Crosse virus91
Lassa virus120
Lymphocytic Choriomeningitis virus120
Machupo virus120
Mayaro virus70
Measles virus185
Mumps virus225
Murray Valley Encephalitis virus55
Nipah virus90
Norovirus27
O’nyong-nyong virus60
Oropouche virus100
Phlebovirus100
Poliovirus30
Polyomavirus42
Puumala virus100
Respiratory Syncytial virus130
Rhinovirus30
Rift valley Fever virus100
Rosavirus30
Ross river virus65
Rotavirus70
Rubella virus60
Saint Louis Encephalitis virus45
Salivirus30
Sapporo virus34
Semliki Forest virus60
Sindbis virus70
Snowshoe Hare virus95
Thogotovirus100
Tick-Borne Encephalitis virus50
Torovirus120
Torque Teno virus30
Uukuniemi virus95
Varicella Zoster virus190
Venezuelan Equine Encephalitis virus70
West Nile virus50
Western Equine Encephalitis virus63
Yellow Fever virus50
Zika virus50

The list above includes 84 different viruses that are either spherical or polyhedral.

Size of Helical Viruses

Here are the diameters/widths and lengths of viruses in nanometers (nm):

Virus NameLength (nm)Width/Diameter (nm)
Chandipura virus15858
Cowpox virus335200
Ebolavirusvaries80
Indiana Vesiculovirus17070
Isfahan virus20080
Marburg virus79080
Molluscum Contagiosum virus320250
Monkeypox virus225200
Orf virus295160
Rabies virus18075
Sin Nombre virus18085
Smallpox virus326257
Tanapox virus287221
Vaccinia virus360270

The list above includes 14 different helical viruses.

Conclusion

Those are the sizes of many major kinds of viruses out there. The tables include a lot of viruses that cause well-known diseases such as Hepatitis (different types), Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), Ebola, Influenza, Rabies, and Measles.

The size measurements are in nanometers (nm) which is a metric units that’s commonly used for microorganisms.

This is one of the shortest articles we have published so far since it merely lists some virus sizes. But of course, compiling all these numbers took quite some time to do.

Hope the information was helpful for you.

Please let us know if you want the size data of any more viruses to be included in the list.

Lastly, be sure to check out this virus size comparison tool. It will allow you to visually see how different viruses contrast in size.

References