Transcript Emerging Viruses poster

How certain animals like bats have become a perfect reservoir for many fungi and viruses which cause
fatal infectious diseases in humans?
Marburg virus, which causes Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever, is one of those many microorganisms that naturally lives with African
Fruit bats.
How can mutant cells which lack NPC1 protein can be used for prevention? Why is the fatality rate of MHF so high and no
effective vaccine have not been found for this disease yet?
Rationale
Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever is a highly fatal
disease and it is less known than Ebola.
Together, Ebola and Marburg make up the
Filoviridae family. MHF was chosen because
of its mysteriously high fatal rate and inability
of scientists to find a vaccine to cure the
patients.
Treatment
Origins
The first outbreak of this disease was caused
by interaction with African green monkey
tissues in a lab. Marburg virus was first
recognized in 1967 after an outbreak
happened in a lab in Marburg Germany.
Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever is a highly fatal
infectious disease and no vaccine has been
found to be effective in curing, or preventing,
this disease. Even though the fatal rate falls
between 23-100%, but balancing the patient's
fluids and electrolytes, maintaining their
oxygen status and blood pressure, replacing
lost blood and clotting factors and treating
them for any complicating infections can
increase the patient's life expectancy.
Conclusion
Patient with Marburg Hemorrhagic Fever. Bleeding in vast
areas of the body is one of the major symptoms.
MHF, a Zoonotic Disease
MFH is a zoonotic disease, meaning that the
agent, which is a virus, is transferred from an
animal to the humans and causes infection.
The reservoir for this virus was found to be
the African fruit bats. This type of bath are
known to carry many viral and fungus
diseases and they can be in close contact
with other animals including primates and
humans.
MHF Epidemic after its outbreak in 1967
Even though more than 45 years have passed
from the initial outbreak, but MHF is not well
known because of having a high rate of
mutation and fatality rate. MHF, which is
caused by a ssRNA virus, is well known to be
passed from African Fruit bats, but the
mutation that has made this virus to become
able to infect humans, and the bats' defense
mechanism against this highly infective
disease is not discovered yet.
Infection Mechanism
Glycoprotein on the virus's membrane binds to
NCP-1 protein on the endosomal membrane
of the host cell and enters it. Marburg virus
has a single stranded RNA which is replicated
inside the host cell via the viral polymerase
complex. New viruses are formed and they
spread throughout the body.
Questions to Go Further
▸
What is the defense mechanism of bats
that allows them to carry Marburg virus
without showing any symptom?
▸
Why there is no approved treatment for
MHF?
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How could studying the ecology and
identity of reservoirs of Marburg virus
help identify the evolution pathway of
MHF?
▸
Will it be effective to produce mutant
cells that do not produce NCP1 proteins
and can prevent MHF infection?
Symptoms
African Fruit bat, Marburg virus's reservoir
High fever, extensive bleeding, organ failure,
nausea, vomiting, chest pain, sore throat,
abdominal pain, weight loss, fatigue, shock,
coma, and eventually death are the symptoms
of this disease.