This virus is classified within the Matonaviridae family and consists of a single-stranded RNA with a positive polarity.

Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ruhugu virus was detected in disease-free Cyclops roundleaf bats residing in Kibale National Park, Uganda.

[2] This discovery was made during a search for coronaviruses present in bat populations.

[3] Ruhugu virus was named after the Ruteete region of Uganda and the word in the local Tooro language, which describes "the flapping of bat wings in the hollow of a tree: obuhuguhugu"[3] Ruhugu virus is closely related to Rubella virus and differs in only one amino acid in the protein it uses to get into host cells.

[4] In the fusion protein of the virus and two putative T cell epitopes in the capsid protein of the ruhugu virus the amino acid sequences of four putative B cell epitopes are moderately to highly conserved, suggesting ruhugu viruses have a similar capacity for fusion with the host-cell membrane like rubella virus.