1. What is the Baltimore system of classification and how many groups does it include? Baltimore classification is a classification system which places viruses into one of seven groups depending on a combination of their nucleic acid, strandedness, and method of replication. This system indicates how to proceed with further research, since by classifying viruses by their genome all viruses within a certain category behave in a similar fashion. http://www. reference. com/browse/wiki/Virus_classification 2.
What three characteristics are used to place each virus in a specific group? The three characteristics that are used to place each virus include the virus’ combination of their nucleic acid, strandedness (whether it’s single-stranded or double-stranded), and method of replication. http://www. reference. com/browse/wiki/Virus_classification 3. To what group does Ebola virus belong? What is the Family name? How many types of Ebola virus are known at present? Ebola belongs to Group V and also belongs to the family Filoviridae.
There are currently four types of the Ebola virus known at the present. http://www. virology. net/Big_Virology/BVRNAfilo. html 4. List 5 other viruses that belong to this group. Five other viruses that belong to Group V are the Rabies virus, Marburg virus, Measles virus, Mumps virus, Tioman virus. http://www. answers. com/topic/ebola 5. What is a biological vector? A biological vector is an organism that is essential in the life cycle of a pathogenic organism. http://www. answers. com/biological+vector&r=67.
6. What is the vector for Ebola virus? The vector for the Ebola virus is not known. Scientists speculate that the vector for the Ebola virus maybe bats, monkeys, spiders, but they have not been able to acquire definitive data. http://www. tarakharper. com/v_ebola. htm#vec 7.
What is an incubation period? The incubation period is the amount of time between infection with a virus or bacteria to the start of symptoms. http://dermatology. about. com/cs/infectionvirus/g/incubation. htm 8. What is a zoonotic agent?
Zoonotic agents are diseases caused by infectious agents that can be transmitted between (or are shared by) animals and humans. http://www. vetmed. wisc. edu/pbs/zoonoses/ 9. Is there a vaccine available for Ebola virus? Why or why not? There is currently no vaccine available for the Ebola virus, although scientists have developed a vaccine that is in its experimental stages. The primary reason why scientists have not been able to develop a vaccine is because they do not know what hosts the virus or how the virus is carried to humans. http://www. stanford.edu/group/virus/1999/yunnie/vaccine. html 10. Why is Ebola considered a stupid virus?
Ebola is considered the stupid virus because it kills the organism too fast. The relative short incubation period, and the high mortality rates suggest that the Ebola virus kills too fast for it to replicate or be transmitted to another organism. The virus is also very hard to transmit since one must be in contact with bodily fluid strained with Ebola. All these factors illustrate why Ebola is considered a stupid virus. http://virus. stanford. edu/filo/transmission. html.