Filovirus emergence and vaccine development: A perspective for health care practitioners in travel medicine

Recent case reports of viral hemorrhagic fever in Europe and the United States have raised concerns about the possibility for increased importation of filoviruses to non-endemic areas. This emerging threat is concerning because of the increase in global air travel and the rise of tourism in central and eastern Africa and the greater dispersion of military troops to areas of infectious disease outbreaks. Marburg viruses (MARV) and Ebola viruses (EBOV) have been associated with outbreaks of severe hemorrhagic fever involving high mortality (25-90% case fatality rates). First recognized in 1967 and 1976 respectively, subtypes of MARV and EBOV are the only known viruses of the Filoviridae family, and are among the world's most virulent pathogens. This article focuses on information relevant for health care practitioners in travel medicine to include, the epidemiology and clinical features of filovirus infection and efforts toward development of a filovirus vaccine.