Overview of Rhabdo- and Filoviruses

Enveloped viruses with a negative-sense, single-stranded monopartite RNA genome have been classified into the order Mononegavirales. Five families of viruses that constitute the order are: Rhabdoviridae, Filoviri-dae, Paramyxoviridae, Bornaviridae and Nyamiviridae. Members of these families possess a helical nucleocapsid core containing the viral genome and a host-derived lipid envelope containing viral proteins. This introductory chapter provides a brief overview of the Rhabdoviridae and the Filoviridae, the two families of viruses that are the subject of this book. Many members of these two families are highly significant human and animal pathogens. The rationale and goal of the book is to provide the reader with the most recent information on the structure, genome organization and replication strategy, epidemiology, evolution and emergence , host response to infection, viral countermeasures as well as vaccines and antivirals against these pathogens. More detailed descriptions of these topics are presented in individual chapters of this book.