[1] Farmers in Brazil and other South American countries gave it the name "tristeza", meaning sadness in Portuguese and Spanish, referring to the devastation produced by the disease in the 1930s.

[2] The CTV genome is typically between 19.2 and 19.3 kb long and consists of a single strand of (+)-sense RNA enclosed by two types of capsid proteins.

CTV is also known to infect Aeglopsis chevalieri, Afraegle paniculata and Pamburus missionis of the citrus subfamily Aurantioideae, as well as Passiflora gracilis which belongs to an entirely different lineage of rosid plants.

[5] Symptoms of CTV infection are highly variable and depend on several factors including host, virulence of the particular virus strain, and environmental conditions.

In this case the infected tree will also show a bulge above the bud union and honeycombing on the inner face of the original sour orange root stock bark.

[5] Stem-pitting is another symptom of CTV that manifests in most host types under the proper conditions, and especially in Citrus trees grafted onto sour orange rootstock.

[citation needed] CTV is classically diagnosed by graft-inoculating a Mexican lime (Citrus aurantifolia) with tissue from a diseased plant.

Symptoms on the leaves begin as clear veins that turn corky, which is then followed by chlorosis and cupping of the leaf.

[3][6] Alternatively CTV can be indicated by the presence of aggregates of cross-banded inclusion bodies in the phloem of the diseased plant.

It is transmitted semi-persistently by vectors that penetrate the phloem to extract sap, mostly the aphid species that colonize the crop.

[8] This efficiency is enhanced by the narrow host range of the brown citrus aphid and its tendency to produce winged forms in order to colonize new growth.

[13] The main cultural practice that increases the severity of the CTV is when the citrus trees are grafted onto the sour orange rootstock.

Since the virus has been in Asia a long time they have used rootstock from trifoliate orange, Sunki, and Shiikuwasha (C. × depressa) for many years.

Some hybrids, such as Troyer citrange or Swingle citromelo, show promise as resistant root-stock.

[citation needed] The production of virus-free trees by shoot-tip grafting or heat treatment is very important.