Sudan virus
Encyclopedia
Sudan virus is a close relative of the much more commonly known Ebola virus
(EBOV). SUDV causes severe disease
in human
s and (experimentally) in nonhuman primates in the form of viral hemorrhagic fever
s. SUDV is a Select Agent
, World Health Organization
Risk Group 4 Pathogen (requiring Biosafety Level 4-equivalent containment
), National Institutes of Health
/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Category A Priority Pathogen, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Category A Bioterrorism Agent
, and listed as a Biological Agent for Export Control by the Australia Group
.
Sudan ebolavirus
, which is included into the genus
Ebolavirus
, family
Filoviridae
, order
Mononegavirales
. The name Sudan virus is derived from Sudan
(where it was first discovered) and the taxonomic
suffix
virus. Sudan virus is pronounced sʊ’dæn vɑɪrəs (IPA) or soo-dan vahy-ruhs in English phonetic notation. According to the rules for taxon naming established by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
(ICTV), the name Sudan virus is always to be capitalized
, but is never italicized
, and may be abbreviated
(with SUDV being the official abbreviation).
is a Sudan virus (SUDV) if it has the properties of Sudan ebolaviruses
and if its genome
diverges from that of the prototype Sudan virus, Sudan virus variant Boniface (SUDV/Bon), by ≤10% at the nucleotide
level.
are suspected to harbor the virus because infectious Marburg virus
(MARV), a distantly related filovirus, has been isolated from bats, and because traces (but no infectious particles) of the more closely related Ebola virus
(EBOV) were found in bats as well.
organization and the conservation of individual open reading frame
s, is similar to that of the other four known ebolaviruses. It is therefore currently assumed that the knowledge obtained for EBOV can be extrapolated
to SUDV and that all SUDV protein
s behave analogous to those of EBOV.
Ebola virus
Ebola virus causes severe disease in humans and in nonhuman primates in the form of viral hemorrhagic fever. EBOV is a Select Agent, World Health Organization Risk Group 4 Pathogen , National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Category A Priority Pathogen,...
(EBOV). SUDV causes severe disease
Disease
A disease is an abnormal condition affecting the body of an organism. It is often construed to be a medical condition associated with specific symptoms and signs. It may be caused by external factors, such as infectious disease, or it may be caused by internal dysfunctions, such as autoimmune...
in human
Human
Humans are the only living species in the Homo genus...
s and (experimentally) in nonhuman primates in the form of viral hemorrhagic fever
Viral hemorrhagic fever
The viral hemorrhagic fevers are a diverse group of animal and human illnesses that are caused by four distinct families of RNA viruses: the families Arenaviridae, Filoviridae, Bunyaviridae, and Flaviviridae. All types of VHF are characterized by fever and bleeding disorders and all can progress...
s. SUDV is a Select Agent
Select agent
In United States law, Select Agents are pathogens or biological toxins which have been declared by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services or by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to have the "potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety"...
, World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
Risk Group 4 Pathogen (requiring Biosafety Level 4-equivalent containment
Biosafety
Biosafety: prevention of large-scale loss of biological integrity, focusing both on ecology and human health .Biosafety is related to several fields:*In ecology ,...
), National Institutes of Health
National Institutes of Health
The National Institutes of Health are an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and are the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and health-related research. Its science and engineering counterpart is the National Science Foundation...
/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is one of the 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health , an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services...
Category A Priority Pathogen, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services headquartered in Druid Hills, unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, in Greater Atlanta...
Category A Bioterrorism Agent
Bioterrorism
Bioterrorism is terrorism involving the intentional release or dissemination of biological agents. These agents are bacteria, viruses, or toxins, and may be in a naturally occurring or a human-modified form. For the use of this method in warfare, see biological warfare.-Definition:According to the...
, and listed as a Biological Agent for Export Control by the Australia Group
Australia Group
The Australia Group is an informal group of countries established in 1985 to help member countries to identify those of their exports which need to be controlled so as not to contribute to the spread of chemical and biological weapons .The group, initially consisting of 15 members, held its first...
.
Use of term
Sudan virus (abbreviated SUDV) was first described in 1977. It is the single member of the speciesInternational Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses is a committee which authorizes and organizes the taxonomic classification of viruses. They have developed a universal taxonomic scheme for viruses and aim to describe all the viruses of living organisms. Members of the committee are considered to...
Sudan ebolavirus
Sudan ebolavirus
- Introduction and Use of Term :The species Sudan ebolavirus is a virological taxon included in the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales. The species has a single virus member, Sudan virus . The members of the species are called Sudan ebolaviruses...
, which is included into the genus
International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses is a committee which authorizes and organizes the taxonomic classification of viruses. They have developed a universal taxonomic scheme for viruses and aim to describe all the viruses of living organisms. Members of the committee are considered to...
Ebolavirus
Ebolavirus
The genus Ebolavirus is a virological taxon included in the family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales.This genus was introduced in 1998 as the "Ebola-like viruses". In 2002 the name was changed to Ebolavirus and in 2010 the genus was emended....
, family
International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses is a committee which authorizes and organizes the taxonomic classification of viruses. They have developed a universal taxonomic scheme for viruses and aim to describe all the viruses of living organisms. Members of the committee are considered to...
Filoviridae
Filoviridae
The family Filoviridae is the taxonomic home of several related viruses that form filamentous virions. Two members of the family that are commonly known are Ebola virus and Marburg virus. Both viruses, and some of their lesser known relatives, cause severe disease in humans and nonhuman primates in...
, order
International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses is a committee which authorizes and organizes the taxonomic classification of viruses. They have developed a universal taxonomic scheme for viruses and aim to describe all the viruses of living organisms. Members of the committee are considered to...
Mononegavirales
Mononegavirales
The order Mononegavirales is the taxonomic home of numerous related viruses. Members of the order that are commonly known are, for instance, Ebola virus, human respiratory syncytial virus, measles virus, mumps virus, Nipah virus, and rabies virus. All of these viruses cause significant disease in...
. The name Sudan virus is derived from Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
(where it was first discovered) and the taxonomic
Taxonomy
Taxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
suffix
Suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns or adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs...
virus. Sudan virus is pronounced sʊ’dæn vɑɪrəs (IPA) or soo-dan vahy-ruhs in English phonetic notation. According to the rules for taxon naming established by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses is a committee which authorizes and organizes the taxonomic classification of viruses. They have developed a universal taxonomic scheme for viruses and aim to describe all the viruses of living organisms. Members of the committee are considered to...
(ICTV), the name Sudan virus is always to be capitalized
Capitalization
Capitalization is writing a word with its first letter as a majuscule and the remaining letters in minuscules . This of course only applies to those writing systems which have a case distinction...
, but is never italicized
Italic type
In typography, italic type is a cursive typeface based on a stylized form of calligraphic handwriting. Owing to the influence from calligraphy, such typefaces often slant slightly to the right. Different glyph shapes from roman type are also usually used—another influence from calligraphy...
, and may be abbreviated
Abbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...
(with SUDV being the official abbreviation).
Previous designations
Sudan virus was first introduced as a new "strain" of Ebola virus in 1977. In 2000, it received the designation Sudan Ebola virus and in 2002 the name was changed to Sudan ebolavirus. Previous abbreviations for the virus were EBOV-S (for Ebola virus Sudan) and most recently SEBOV (for Sudan Ebola virus or Sudan ebolavirus). The virus received its final designation in 2010, when it was renamed Sudan virus (SUDV).Virus inclusion criteria
A virus of the species Sudan ebolavirusSudan ebolavirus
- Introduction and Use of Term :The species Sudan ebolavirus is a virological taxon included in the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales. The species has a single virus member, Sudan virus . The members of the species are called Sudan ebolaviruses...
is a Sudan virus (SUDV) if it has the properties of Sudan ebolaviruses
Sudan ebolavirus
- Introduction and Use of Term :The species Sudan ebolavirus is a virological taxon included in the genus Ebolavirus, family Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales. The species has a single virus member, Sudan virus . The members of the species are called Sudan ebolaviruses...
and if its genome
Genome
In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....
diverges from that of the prototype Sudan virus, Sudan virus variant Boniface (SUDV/Bon), by ≤10% at the nucleotide
Nucleotide
Nucleotides are molecules that, when joined together, make up the structural units of RNA and DNA. In addition, nucleotides participate in cellular signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions...
level.
Disease
SUDV is one of four ebolaviruses that causes Ebola virus disease (EVD) in humans (in the literature also often referred to as Ebola hemorrhagic fever, EHF). EVD due to SUDV infection cannot be differentiated from EVD caused by other ebolaviruses by clinical observation alone, which is why the clinical presentation and pathology of infections by all ebolaviruses is presented together on a separate page (see Ebola virus disease). In the past, SUDV has caused the following EVD outbreaks:| Year | Geographic location | Human cases/deaths (case-fatality rate) |
| 1976 | Juba Juba - Locations :* Juba, the capital of South Sudan* Juba, Estonia, a village in Võru Parish, Võru County, Estonia- People :* Juba I of Numidia * Juba II of Numidia * Juba of Mauretania... , Maridi Maridi -Location:Maridi is located in Maridi East County, Western Equatoria State, near the international border between South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This location lies approximately , by road, west of Juba, the capital of South Sudan and the largest city in that country... , Nzara, and Tembura, Sudan Sudan Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the... |
284/151 (53%) |
| 1979 | Nzara, Sudan Sudan Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the... |
34/22 (65%) |
| 2000-2001 | Gulu Gulu District Gulu District is a district in Northern Uganda. The district is named after its chief municipal, administrative and commercial center, the town of Gulu.-Location:... , Mbarara Gulu District Gulu District is a district in Northern Uganda. The district is named after its chief municipal, administrative and commercial center, the town of Gulu.-Location:... , and Masindi District Masindi District Masindi District is a district in Western Uganda. Like many other Ugandan districts, it is named after its 'chief town' of Masindi, the location of the district headquarters. The region of the country in which the district is located is comparatively dry, but is fertile enough to support a... s, Uganda Uganda Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by... |
425/224 (53%) |
| 2004 | Yambio County, Sudan Sudan Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the... |
17/7 (41%) |
| 2011 | Luweero District, Uganda Uganda Uganda , officially the Republic of Uganda, is a landlocked country in East Africa. Uganda is also known as the "Pearl of Africa". It is bordered on the east by Kenya, on the north by South Sudan, on the west by the Democratic Republic of the Congo, on the southwest by Rwanda, and on the south by... |
1/1 (100%) |
Ecology
The ecology of SUDV is currently unclear and no reservoir host has yet been identified. Therefore, it remains unclear how SUDV was repeatedly introduced into human populations. BatsBats
A bat is a flying mammal in the Chiroptera order.Bats may also refer to:-Films:*Bats , starring Lou Diamond Phillips and Bob Gunton*Bats: Human Harvest -Groups:...
are suspected to harbor the virus because infectious Marburg virus
Marburg virus
Marburg virus disease is the name for the human disease caused by any of the two marburgviruses Marburg virus and Ravn virus...
(MARV), a distantly related filovirus, has been isolated from bats, and because traces (but no infectious particles) of the more closely related Ebola virus
Ebola virus
Ebola virus causes severe disease in humans and in nonhuman primates in the form of viral hemorrhagic fever. EBOV is a Select Agent, World Health Organization Risk Group 4 Pathogen , National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Category A Priority Pathogen,...
(EBOV) were found in bats as well.
Molecular Biology
SUDV is basically uncharacterized on a molecular level. However, it's genomic sequence, and with it the genomicGenome
In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....
organization and the conservation of individual open reading frame
Open reading frame
In molecular genetics, an open reading frame is a DNA sequence that does not contain a stop codon in a given reading frame.Normally, inserts which interrupt the reading frame of a subsequent region after the start codon cause frameshift mutation of the sequence and dislocate the sequences for stop...
s, is similar to that of the other four known ebolaviruses. It is therefore currently assumed that the knowledge obtained for EBOV can be extrapolated
Extrapolation
In mathematics, extrapolation is the process of constructing new data points. It is similar to the process of interpolation, which constructs new points between known points, but the results of extrapolations are often less meaningful, and are subject to greater uncertainty. It may also mean...
to SUDV and that all SUDV protein
Protein
Proteins are biochemical compounds consisting of one or more polypeptides typically folded into a globular or fibrous form, facilitating a biological function. A polypeptide is a single linear polymer chain of amino acids bonded together by peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of...
s behave analogous to those of EBOV.