Essay on Marburg and Ebola Virus
Ebola and Marburg, both genetically unique zoonotic RNA viruses that cause rare and severe types of hemorrhagic fevers, are serologically, bio-chemically and genetically distinct. Both affect both human and non-human primates and the main known route of transmission is via person-person contact (although the natural reservoir of the virus is still unknown). This is a very contagious virus which is classed as bio-level 4 type.Their genus, family and order are that of the Filoviruses, Filoviridae and Mononegavirales respectively. The Filovirus (a non-segmented, enveloped negative-stranded RNA family) was created thanks to the recognition of these viruses and is a fairly recent occurrence as an article in The Encyclopaedia of Virology 1995 states: "...a classification within the family Filoviridae has not yet been proposed ... based on the data available to date, a separation into two distinct groups of viruses, Marburg-like and Ebola-like viruses, is obvious..." [1,2,3]. In 1967, Marburg (a virus that was named after the city in Germany where it was first characterised) was isolated in Europe in Marburg, Germany and the
There is only one overlap in Marburg viruses. Cross-protection among different EBOV subtypes in experimental animal vaccines has been reported. They could hold the key to future vaccines. Importantly, monkeys that have been immunised with purified NP and glycoprotein have demonstrated the induction of humoral and immune response and they serve to protect the animals even when they were injected with lethal doses of the Filovirus. Additionally, it is thought that monkeys could be protected against the virus if they were immunised against the Ebola virus using a DNA vaccination which was then boostered using a recombinant adenovirus. Furthermore, injections of glycoprotein and sGP were found to provide protection for guinea pigs. In 1976, Ebola first emerged in two major disease outbreaks occurring simultaneously in Zaire and Sudan creating more than 550 primary cases in which a frightening 88% & 53% mortality rates were observed. The virus was named after a small river in the Democratic Republic of Congo then North-western Zaire. 3. Three overlaps occur in the Ebola genome averaging 18bp in length:
Some common words found in the essay are:
Marburg Ebola, Ebola Marburg, Europe Uganda, Western Kenya, Rhabdoviruses Paramyxoviruses, Filovirus Additionally, Genome Organisation, GP VP30, Caused Mortality, Frame Symptoms, marburg virus, ebola marburg, * overlap occurs, non-human primates, infected virus, structural protein, ebola virus, overlap occurs, * overlap, marburg ebola, occur ebola, via person-person contact, mortality rates observed, symptoms occur ebola, ebola hemorrhagic fever,
Approximate Word count = 2106
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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