ABSTRACT
Rubella virus (RV) causes German measles or Rubella or 3-day measles. The name rubella is derived from the Latin, meaning little red. The disease was rst described in the eighteenth century. This disease is often mild and attacks often pass unnoticed. The disease can last 1-3 days. Children infected by RV recover more quickly than adults. Whereas RV infection during pregnancy can be serious; if the mother is infected within the rst 20 weeks of pregnancy, the child may be born with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), which entails a range of serious incurable illnesses. It can also lead to spontaneous abortion, which occurs in up to 20% of cases. It is a potential infectious teratogen. It was N. McAlister Gregg who rst recognized the association of rubella virus with birth defects. Initial isolation of RV was reported in 1962 by two independent groups [1]. Rubella virus grows in a wide range of primary and continuous cell cultures.
