ABSTRACT
Measles virus (MV) is a member of the Morbillivirus genus of the paramyxovirus family. Virions are pleomorphic and range in size from 100 to 300 nm. It is an enveloped virus with a single-stranded, negative-sense RNA genome [1-3]. The genome consists of 15,894 nucleotides encoding six structural proteins, the nucleoprotein (N), phosphoprotein (P), matrix (M), fusion (F), hemagglutinin (H) and the large protein (L) as well as two nonstructural proteins (C and V), produced by alternative translation initiation (C protein) and RNA editing of P gene transcripts (V protein) [4]. The RNA is packaged by the N in a helical nucleocapsid with a herringbone-like appearance [5]. The nucleocapsid together with the associated L and P proteins constitutes the replicative unit of the virus [4]. Two glycoproteins, H and F, extrude from the lipid bilayer that forms the viral envelope, lined with M protein on its inner surface.
