When I start up my MacBook Pro, it turns on for a minute then the screen goes black and colorful lines appear across the screen and then it shuts off. Could this be a virus or a hardware issue?

Not a virus if you are booting to OS X, there are none for OS X at this time. It sounds like your lcd cable or gpu might be the cause. in the mean time:

Shut down

Disconnect all external devices

Reset the System Management Controller (SMC)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201295

repeat 2/3 times

Reset the nonvolatile random-access memory (NVRAM)

(OPTION+COMMAND+p+r at Startup)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204063

repeat 2/3 times

Then use safeboot (SHIFT at Startup)

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Then reboot normally with devices disconnected.

Not a virus. Could be hardware. Could be software. What happens when you boot from the Recovery HD?

Boot to the Recovery HD

1. Restart the computer.
2. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "COMMAND" and "R" keys together.
3. Release the keys when the Utilities Menu appears.