Filoviruses could be used as biological weapons.

2003 MAY 21 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The possibility exists that terrorists could use filoviruses as biological weapons.

"The filoviruses, Marburg and Ebola, are classified as Category A biowarfare agents by the Centers for Disease Control. Most known human infections with these viruses have been fatal, and no vaccines or effective therapies are currently available," an investigator in the United States reports.

"Filoviruses are highly infectious by the airborne route in the laboratory, but investigations of African outbreaks have shown that person-to-person spread requires direct contact with virus-containing material," said Mike Bray at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. "In consequence, filovirus epidemics can be halted by isolating patients and instituting standard infection control and barrier nursing procedures. The filovirus disease syndrome resembles that caused by other hemorrhagic fever viruses, necessitating studies in a biocontainment laboratory to confirm the diagnosis. Some progress has been made in developing vaccines and antiviral drugs, but efforts ...