Like other members of the family Flaviviridae, LGTV is a singlestranded, positive-sense RNA virus. Upon infecting a cell, the virions are thought to traffic to the endosome, where they undergo structural transformation and fuse with host cell membranes, releasing the 11-kb viral RNA genome into the cytoplasm [15] . The genomic RNA, which can function as mRNA, is translated into an approximately 400 kDa polyprotein [16] that is subsequently cleaved into at least ten proteins by both viral and cellular host proteases [17] . The currently defined complement consists of three structural proteins (Capsid [C] , membrane [M] , and envelope [E]) and seven nonstructural proteins (NS1, NS2A, NS2B, NS3, NS4A, NS4B, and NS5) [17, 18] . Precise functions for all of the nonstructural proteins are not fully elucidated, but some roles have been determined. NS1 can be found on the cell surface but is known to be secreted [17] and is also detected in perinuclear areas where it is believed to play a part in viral replication [19] ; however, its role has not yet been clearly defined. NS3 is a RNA helicase and also acts as a viral protease using NS2B as a co-factor [20, 21] . NS4A, a small hydrophobic protein, has been implicated in the cellular changes that accompany virus reproduction [22] and has been shown to localize to foci within the perinuclear region of infected cells [23] . NS5 is the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and methyltransferase [17] ; however, recent implications of LGTV NS5 as an innate immune response antagonist confirms a broader role for this protein beyond genome replication [24] . This broader role is also seen in NS59s wider distribution, being located in cell nuclei, perinuclear regions, and diffusely throughout the cytoplasm [25] . Following synthesis of the viral proteins, the single stranded genome is converted into a doublestranded RNA (dsRNA), which serves as a transcriptional template as well as the viral replicative form. Together with the replication complex, made up of NS1, NS2A, NS3, NS4A, and NS5, dsRNA is found in cytoplasmic, perinuclear foci throughout LGTV infected cells. This dsRNA species is an additional obligatory replicative intermediate.