Filovirus Tropism: Cellular Molecules for Viral Entry

Takada, Ayato

Ebola virus (EBOV) and Marburg virus (MARV), classified as biosafety level 4 agents, belong to the Family Filoviridae. Whereas MARV consists of a single species, Lake Victoria Marburgvirus, there are four distinct EBOV species, including Zaire ebolavirus (ZEBOV), Sudan ebolavirus (SEBOV), Côte d'Ivoire ebolavirus (CIEBOV), Reston ebolavirus (REBOV), and the proposed new species Bundibugyo ebolavirus (BEBOV) Towner et al., 2008) (Figure 1 left). Among these, ZEBOV, first identified in 1976, seems to be the most virulent, killing approximately up to 90% of infected individuals, whereas REBOV, which was initially isolated from cynomolgus monkeys imported from the Philippines into the USA in 1989, is less pathogenic in experimentally infected non-human primates (Fisher-Hoch and McCormick, 1999) and has never caused lethal infection in humans .