Rubella virus is the only member of the Rubrivirus genus of the Togavirus family. Unlike most Togaviruses it is NOT arthropod borne, but is acquired via the respiratory route. It causes German measles ( a mild contagious eruptive disease, capable of producing congenital defects in infants born to mothers infected during the first three months of pregnancy). Rubella virus is an enveloped positive-strand RNA virus. The genome encodes two open reading frames (ORFs): the 5'-proximal ORF encodes viral nonstructural proteins (NSP) that are responsible for viral genome replication, while the 3'-proximal ORF encodes three virion structural proteins (SP), the capsid protein (CP), and the two envelope glycoproteins, E2 and E1. During virus assembly, the capsid interacts with genomic RNA to form nucleocapsids. The rubella virus (RV) structural proteins: capsid, E2, and E1 are synthesized as a polyprotein precursor. The signal peptide that initiates translocation of E2 into the lumen of the endoplasmic reticulum remains attached to the carboxy terminus of the capsid protein after cleavage by signal peptidase.

Cytoplasmic in host cells concentrated around Golgi region and mitochondrion.