Reston ebolavirus | |
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An artificially colored transmission electron micrograph of the Reston virus | |
Virus classification | |
(unranked): | Virus |
Realm: | Riboviria |
Kingdom: | Orthornavirae |
Phylum: | Negarnaviricota |
Class: | Monjiviricetes |
Order: | Mononegavirales |
Family: | Filoviridae |
Genus: | Ebolavirus |
Species: | Reston ebolavirus
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Synonyms | |
Reston virus (RESTV) |
Reston virus (RESTV) is one of six known viruses within the genus Ebolavirus. Reston virus causes Ebola virus disease in non-human primates; out of all 6 ebolaviruses, it is one of the only two not known to cause disease in humans, but has caused asymptomatic infections.[1][2][3] Reston virus was first described in 1990 as a new "strain" of Ebola virus (EBOV).[4] It is the single member of the species Reston ebolavirus, which is included into the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales.[5] Reston virus is named after Reston, Virginia, US, where the virus was first discovered.
RESTV was discovered in crab-eating macaques imported by Hazleton Laboratories (now Fortrea) in 1989. This attracted significant media attention due to Reston's location in the Washington metropolitan area and the lethality of a closely related Ebola virus. Despite its status as a level-4 organism, Reston virus is non-pathogenic to humans, though hazardous to monkeys;[6][7] the perception of its lethality was compounded by the monkey's coinfection with Simian hemorrhagic fever virus (SHFV).[8] Despite ongoing research, the determinants for lack of human pathogenicity are yet to be discovered.[9]