A computational overview on phylogenetic characterization, pathogenic mutations, and drug targets for Ebola virus disease

Abstract

The World Health Organization declared Ebola virus disease(EVD) as the major outbreak in the 20th century. EVD was firstidentified in 1976 in South Sudan and the Democratic Republicof the Congo. EVD was transmitted from infected fruit bats tohumans via contact with infected animal body fluids. The Ebolavirus (EBOV) has a genome size of ~18,959 bp. It encodesseven distinct proteins: nucleoprotein (NP), glycoprotein (GP),viral proteins VP24, VP30, VP35, matrix protein VP40, andpolymerase L is considered a prime target for potential antiviralstrategies. The current US FDA-approved anti-EVD vaccine,ERVERBO, and the other equally effective anti-EBOV combi-nations of three fully human monoclonal antibodies such asREGN-EB3, primarily target the envelope glycoprotein. Thiswork elaborates on the EBOV’s phylogenetic structure and thecrucial mutations associated with viral pathogenicity