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Ebola virus

Thin section electron microscopy of infected cell culture and negative contrast electron microscopy of virus from cell culture.
	Ebola virus (image 1), diagnostic specimen from the first passage in Vero cells of a specimen from a human patient—this image is from the first isolation and visualization of Ebola virus, 1976. This image has been "borrowed" so often for various public uses that many people think that all Ebola virions look just like this—indeed, in the film Outbreak every virion seen looked just like this. In fact, Ebola virions are extremely varied in appearance -- they are flexible filaments with a consistent diameter of 80 nm (nanometers), but they vary greatly in length (although their genome length is constant) and degree of twisting. Negatively stained virions. Magnification: approximately x60,000. Micrograph from F. A. Murphy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. Download TIF

	Ebola virus (image 1 colorized 1), diagnostic specimen from the first passage in Vero cells of a specimen from a human patient—this image is from the first isolation and visualization of Ebola virus, 1976. This image has been "borrowed" so often for various public uses that many people think that all Ebola virions look just like this—indeed, in the film Outbreak every virion seen looked just like this. In fact, Ebola virions are extremely varied in appearance — they are flexible filaments with a consistent diameter of 80 nm (nanometers), but they vary greatly in length (although their genome length is constant) and degree of twisting. Negatively stained virions. Magnification: approximately x60,000. Micrograph from F. A. Murphy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. Download JPG Only

	Ebola virus (image 1 colorized 2), diagnostic specimen from the first passage in Vero cells of a specimen from a human patient—this image is from the first isolation and visualization of Ebola virus, 1976. This image has been "borrowed" so often for various public uses that many people think that all Ebola virions look just like this—indeed, in the film Outbreak every virion seen looked just like this. In fact, Ebola virions are extremely varied in appearance — they are flexible filaments with a consistent diameter of 80 nm (nanometers), but they vary greatly in length (although their genome length is constant) and degree of twisting. Negatively stained virions. Magnification: approximately x60,000. Micrograph from F. A. Murphy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. Download JPG Only

	Ebola virions (image 2), diagnostic specimen from the first passage in Vero cells of a specimen from a human patient — this image is from the first isolation and visualization of Ebola virus, 1976. In this case, some of the filamentous virions are fused together, end-to-end, giving the appearance of a "bowl of spaghetti." Negatively stained virions. Magnification: approximately x40,000. Micrograph from F. A. Murphy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. Download TIF

	Ebola virions (image 2 colorized 1), diagnostic specimen from the first passage in Vero cells of a specimen from a human patient — this image is from the first isolation and visualization of Ebola virus, 1976. In this case, some of the filamentous virions are fused together, end-to-end, giving the appearance of a "bowl of spaghetti." Negatively stained virions. Magnification: approximately x40,000. Micrograph from F. A. Murphy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. Download Large JPG

	Ebola virions (image 2 colorized 2), diagnostic specimen from the first passage in Vero cells of a specimen from a human patient — this image is from the first isolation and visualization of Ebola virus, 1976. In this case, some of the filamentous virions are fused together, end-to-end, giving the appearance of a "bowl of spaghetti." Negatively stained virions. Magnification: approximately x40,000. Micrograph from F. A. Murphy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. Download TIF


	Ebola virus infected Vero cell, with virions budding from the plasma membrane at 2 days post infection. Preformed viral nucleocapsids are seen in the cytoplasm beneath the budding site. Here, virion budding is occurring "perpendicular" to the plane of the plasma membrane -- in other instances budding has been seen to occur in "parallel" fashion, with the entire virion nucleocapsid first lying in contact with the inner face of the plasma membrane and budding occurring along its entire length. Magnification: approximately x40,000. Micrograph from F. A. Murphy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas.. Download TIF
	Ebola virus infected Vero cell, with viral nucleocapsid inclusion bodies in massed array in its cytoplasm at 2 days post infection. These inclusions may be dramatic in scale, beautiful in appearance, but this is "a terrible beauty" (Yeats). Magnification: approximately x40,000. Micrograph from F. A. Murphy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas Download TIF
	Ebola virus infected Vero cell, with viral nucleocapsid inclusion bodies in massed array in its cytoplasm at 2 days post infection. These inclusions may be dramatic in scale, beautiful in appearance, but this is "a terrible beauty" (Yeats). Magnification: approximately x40,000. Micrograph from F. A. Murphy, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas. Download TIF