Epstein-Barr virus

Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) was discovered in 1964 within the lesion now called Burkitt’s lymphoma. This is a common tumour of African children living within the malarial belt of Africa. Thereafter, EBV was shown to be the aetiological agent of infectious mononucleosis (IM), an acute lymphoproliferative disease resulting from primary infection. More recently it has been implicated in other diseases including anaplastic nasopharyngeal carcinoma, a tumour geographically restricted to Eastern countries especially China, X-linked lymphoproliferative syndrome, and in immunocompromised patients, chronic IM, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and oral hairy leukoplakia.