Enzootic nasal tumor virus

The enzootic nasal tumor virus of the betaretrovirus genus is a carcinogenic retrovirus that causes enzootic nasal adenocarcinoma in sheep and goats. Strain ENTV-1 is found in sheep and strain ENTV-2 is found in goats. The virus causes tumor growth in the upper nasal cavity and is closely related to JSRV which also causes respiratory tumors in ovine. The disease, enzootic nasal adenocarcinoma is common in North America and is found in sheep and goats on every continent except New Zealand and Australia. There are more than 27 betaretroviruses similar to ENVT and JSRV in the ovine genome. In the future, research on ENTV may become important in studying viruses that cause human lung cancer.