Genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection is the most common sexually transmitted disease (STD) in the United States. HPV is a papillomavirus that infects the skin and mucous membranes of humans. Over 100 different HPV types have been identified and are referred to by number. Types 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, and 68 are “high-risk” sexually transmitted HPVs and may lead to the development of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN), vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN), penile intraepithelial neoplasia (PIN), and/or anal intraepithelial neoplasia (AIN) ; other types cause genital warts, recurrent respiratory papillomatosis, and low-grade Pap smear abnormalities.

Cervical cancer is the second most common cancer of women worldwide. It represents about 10% of all cancers of women with 70% of these cancers being caused by HPV-16 and HPV-18.

Human papillomaviruses are a small group of DNA viruses that are non-enveloped, meaning that the outer shell or capsid of the virus is not covered by a lipid membrane. Like most non-enveloped viruses, the capsid is geometrically regular and presents icosahedral symmetry.

Click here to see the HPV phylogenic tree.

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References

Text – Doorbar, J. (2005). The papillomavirus life cycle. J Clin. Virol. 32:S7-15. 
Text – http://www.naturalstandard.com/index-abstract.asp?create-abstract=/monographs/allergies/allergy-apc.asp
Text – International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)
Text – Stanley, M. (2006). Immune response to human papillomavirus. Vaccine. 24S1:S1/16-22. 
Image – http://www.nature.com/nri/journal/v4/n1/fig_tab/nri1260_F2.html