Filovirus infections.

JAVMA, Vol 234, No. 9, May 1, 2009 M emerging and reemerging human pathogens are derived from animals or from animal tissues, waste, or products. A wide range of species including insects (eg, mosquitos), wild animals (eg, rodents, bats, and monkeys), draft animals (eg, horses and mules), and livestock animals (eg, swine, poultry, and cattle) have been implicated in transmission of various highly pathogenic infections, including parasitic, bacterial, and viral diseases, to humans. Among the most deadly emerging zoonotic diseases are viral hemorrhagic fevers, including those caused by the filoviruses, EBOV and MARV. The zoonotic potential of these viruses was identified at the time of their discovery during the first recognized filovirus outbreak that simultaneously occurred in Germany and Yugoslavia. During this 1967 outbreak, laboratory workers became infected following contact with blood and organs from MARV-infected African green monkeys that had been imported from Uganda. The focus of this review is the zoonotic nature of the filoviruses.