ABSTRACT
More than 40 years ago, filoviruses were first isolated and initially
characterized following accidental infections of laboratory workers
in Marburg and Frankfurt, Germany, and Belgrade, Yugoslavia, who
were handling African greenmonkeys imported fromAfrica for polio
vaccine production. The virus caused a severe disease with high
fever and inner bleeding and in spite of immediate hospital care, 7 of
25 primary infected persons died during this outbreak.1 According
to the place of its isolation, the virus was named Marburg virus
(MARV).
