[Bombali virus (Filoviridae: Orthoebolavirus: Orthoebolavirus bombaliense)]

Members of genus Orthoebolavirus of family Filoviridae cause severe hemorrhagic fever in humans with high fatality rates (up to 90%). The first outbreaks of disease caused by the members of genus Orthoebolavirus were registered in 1976 in Zaire and Sudan. The outbreaks of disease caused by the members of genus Orthoebolavirus occur regularly in Africa. The largest outbreak (for all history of monitoring) happened in Guinea, Liberia, Sierra-Leone in 2013-2016. During this outbreak, the cases of disease importation in non-endemic regions were registered. The foci of circulation of the members of genus Orthoebolavirus (with exception for Reston virus) are situated in moist tropical forests of Central and West Africa. The bats are natural reservoirs for filoviruses, the genomic RNA sequences of the members of genus Orthoebolavirus were isolated from various bat species (Hypsignathus monstrosus, Epomops franqueti, Myonycteris tarquata). Recently, the new members of Filoviridae family were isolated from several bat species.

The purpose of the presented article is analysis of the properties of the new member of genus Orthoebolavirus of family Filoviridae - Bombali virus (Orthoebolavirus bombaliense).

The paper presents analysis of data published in English language scientific publications in citation databases RSCI, PubMed.The research method is analytical. The literature for the period from 2005 to 2023 was analyzed.

Bombali virus was first isolated in Guinea in August 2018 from bats Mops condylurus. When comparing the concentration of the Bombali virus in the organs of infected bats, the highest level of accumulation was detected in the lungs which indirectly indicates the possibility of aerosol infection of Mops condylurus. Later RNA of Bombali virus was identified by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction in bats Chaerephon pumilus in Sierra-Leone, but not in other species of fruit-eating and insectivores bats. Nucleotide sequence of genomic RNA of Bombali virus from samples collected in Guinea had 99.3% homology to that from samples collected in Sierra-Leone, and 98.3% homology to that from samples collected in Kenya. Considering that bats Mops condylurus as many other species of insectivores bats cannot travel long distances, this is indirect evidence for the wide distribution of the Bombali virus on the African continent. Despite the fact that cases of human disease caused by Bombali virus have not been identified to date, glycoprotein of this virus (as glycoprotein of filoviruses pathogenic for humans) has affinity to the C1 receptor of Neumann-Pieck protein of human cells.

The study of the molecular biological characteristics of the Bombali virus, as well as other recently discovered new representatives of family Filoviridae can give valuable information for identification of molecular markers of pathogenicity for humans.