Reassortment

The classical example of reassortment is seen in the influenza viruses, whose genomes consist of eight distinct segments of RNA.

If a single host (a human, a chicken, or other animal) is infected by two different strains of the influenza virus, then it is possible that new assembled viral particles will be created from segments whose origin is mixed, some coming from one strain and some coming from another.

Reassortment is responsible for some of the major antigenic shifts in the history of the influenza virus.

[4] When influenza viruses are inactivated by UV irradiation or ionizing radiation, they remain capable of multiplicity reactivation in infected host cells.

[8] The reptarenavirus family, responsible for inclusion body disease in snakes, shows a very high degree of genetic diversity due to reassortment of genetic material from multiple strains in the same infected animal.