Marburgvirus

Updated on Feb 01, 2024

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Group Group V ((−)ssRNA) Family Filoviridae		Order Mononegavirales Genus Marburgvirus

The genus Marburgvirus is the taxonomic home of one species, Marburg marburgvirus, whose members are the two known marburgviruses, Marburg virus (MARV) and Ravn virus (RAVV). Both viruses cause Marburg virus disease in humans and nonhuman primates, a form of viral hemorrhagic fever, and both are Select Agents, World Health Organization Risk Group 4 Pathogens (requiring Biosafety Level 4-equivalent containment), National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Category A Priority Pathogens, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Category A Bioterrorism Agents, and are listed as a Biological Agents for Export Control by the Australia Group.

Use of term

The genus Marburgvirus is a virological taxon (i.e. a man-made concept) included in the family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales. The genus currently includes a single virus species, Marburg marburgvirus. The members of the genus (i.e. the actual physical entities) are called marburgviruses. The name Marburgvirus is derived from the city of Marburg in Hesse, West Germany (where Marburg virus was first discovered) and the taxonomic suffix -virus (which denotes a virus genus).

Note

Marburgvirus is pronounced ˌmɑrbərg’vɑɪrəs (IPA) or mahr-berg-vahy-ruhs in English phonetic notation. According to the rules for taxon naming established by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses (ICTV), the name Marburgvirus is always to be capitalized, italicized, never abbreviated, and to be preceded by the word "genus". The names of its members (marburgviruses) are to be written in lower case, are not italicized, and used without articles.

Previous designations

Until 1998, the family Filoviridae contained only one genus, Filovirus. Once it became clear that marburgviruses and ebolaviruses are fundamentally different, this genus was abolished and a genus "Marburg-like viruses" was established for marburgviruses. In 2002, the genus name was changed to Marburgvirus, and in 2010 and 2011 the genus was emended.