Apoptosis in fatal Ebola infection. Does the virus toll the bell for immune system?

In fatal Ebola virus hemorrhagic fever massive intravascular apoptosis deve lops rapidly following infection and progressing relentlessly until death. While data suggest that T lymphocytes are mainly deleted by apoptosis in PB MC of human fatal cases, experimental Ebola infection in animal models have shown some evidence of destruction of lymphocytes in spleen and lymph node s probably involving both T and B cells. Nevertheless, we are able to concl ude from the accumulated evidence that early interactions between Ebola vir us and the immune system, probably via macrophages, main targets for viral replication, lead to massive destruction of immune cells in fatal cases.