filovirus

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Filoviridae
Marburg virus particles, ~100,000x magnification
Virus classification
Group:	Group V ((-)ssRNA)
Order:	Mononegavirales
Family:	Filoviridae
Genera
Marburgvirus Ebolavirus

Filoviridae is the family of viruses that belong to the order Mononegavirales. Filoviruses are single stranded negative sense RNA viruses that target primates. There are two genera: the Ebola virus and Marburg virus. These viruses cause viral hemorrhagic fevers, characterized by bleeding and coagulation abnormalities, often leading to death. The name is derived from the Latin word filum, alluding to the thread-like appearance of virus particles in electron microscope images.^[1]

History

The filoviridae family was discovered in 1967 when 31 people were infected with the Marburg virus in Marburg, Germany after working with tissue from monkeys imported from Uganda.^[2] Seven people who caught the disease died. All subsequent human outbreaks have occurred in sub-Saharan Africa The second genus of the filoviridae family, Ebola virus, was discovered in 1976 when outbreaks occurred in northern Zaire and southern Sudan. Years later, there was one outbreak near Washington, D.C. in 1989. The virus was Ebola Reston(REBOV), and it was eventually discovered that Reston has no effect on humans. On July 8, 2009, it was reported that Ebola-Reston had appeared again, this time in the Philippines, where it infected swine. There is ongoing concern that infection of swine could both infect the food supply or potentially lead to the emergence of a REBOV variant that affects humans. The existing human variants Ebola virus is potent, having a mortality rate of 20% to 90% reported in some of the Zaire Ebola outbreaks.

Structure

Filoviridae are branched or filamentous particles encompassed by an envelope structure, measuring 800-900nm in length by 80 nm. Contained within a helical nucleocapsid is a single molecule of negative sense ssRNA, roughly 19,000 nucleotides in length.

Infection

The infection is a zoonosis, which means that the virus is transmitted to humans from other animals, but the natural reservoirs of the Marburg virus and the Ebola virus are not known.^[3] Bats, have been suspected because some species have been found asymptomatically and naturally infected with Ebola virus.^[4]

The mechanisms through which filoviruses spread are not fully understood. The route of transmission from animals to humans is unknown. Person-to-person transmission occurs primarily through physical contact with infected bodily fluids, such as infected blood or vomit.

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