Recently Identified Mutations in the Ebola Virus-Makona Genome Do Not Alter Pathogenicity in Animal Models.

ABSTRACT: Ebola virus (EBOV), isolate Makona, the causative agent of the West African EBOV epidemic, has been the subject of numerous investigations to determine the genetic diversity and its potential implication for virus biology, pathogenicity, and transmissibility. Despite various mutations that have emerged over time through multiple human-to-human transmission chains, their biological relevance remains questionable. Recently, mutations in the glycoprotein GP and polymerase L, which emerged and stabilized early during the outbreak, have been associated with improved viral fitness in cell culture. Here, we infected mice and rhesus macaques with EBOV-Makona isolates carrying or lacking those mutations. Surprisingly, all isolates behaved very similarly independent of the genotype, causing severe o

SUBMITTER: Marzi A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5969531 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature