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Morbilliviruses and human disease
Author(s) -
Rima Bertus K,
Duprex W Paul
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the journal of pathology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.964
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1096-9896
pISSN - 0022-3417
DOI - 10.1002/path.1873
Subject(s) - morbillivirus , canine distemper , measles virus , virology , paramyxoviridae , virus , peste des petits ruminants virus , measles , disease , biology , mononegavirales , human pathogen , rinderpest virus , viral disease , rinderpest , immunology , medicine , vaccination , pathology , genetics , bacteria
Morbilliviruses are a group of viruses that belong to the family Paramyxoviridae . The most instantly recognizable member is measles virus (MV) and individuals acutely infected with the virus exhibit a wide range of clinical symptoms ranging from a characteristic mild self‐limiting infection to death. Canine distemper virus (CDV) and rinderpest virus (RPV) cause a similar but distinctive pathology in dogs and cattle, respectively, and these, alongside experimental MV infection of primates, have been useful models for MV pathogenesis. Traditionally, viruses were identified because a distinctive disease was observed in man or animals; an infectious agent was subsequently isolated, cultured, and this could be used to recapitulate the disease in an experimentally infected host. Thus, satisfying Koch's postulates has been the norm. More recently, particularly due to the advent of exceedingly sensitive molecular biological assays, many researchers have looked for infectious agents in disease conditions for which a viral aetiology has not been previously established. For these cases, the modified Koch's postulates of Bradford Hill have been developed as criteria to link a virus to a specific disease. Only in a few cases have these conditions been fulfilled. Therefore, many viruses have over the years been definitely and tentatively linked to human diseases and in this respect the morbilliviruses are no different. In this review, human diseases associated with morbillivirus infection have been grouped into three broad categories: (1) those which are definitely caused by the infection; (2) those which may be exacerbated or facilitated by an infection; and (3) those which currently have limited, weak, unsubstantiated or no credible scientific evidence to support any link to a morbillivirus. Thus, an attempt has been made to clarify the published data and separate human diseases actually linked to morbilliviruses from those that are merely anecdotally associated. Copyright © 2006 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.