What type of virus is Ebola?

• A. RNA virus, family Filoviridae
• B. DNA virus, family Adenoviridae
• C. Retrovirus
• D. Double-stranded RNA virus

Answer: (A)

Ebola is an RNA virus in the Filoviridae family. Its genome is a single-stranded, negative-sense RNA, meaning it must be transcribed into a positive-sense RNA before proteins can be produced. This distinguishes it from DNA viruses (which have DNA genomes, like Adenoviridae), retroviruses (which are RNA viruses that reverse-transcribe into DNA), and double-stranded RNA viruses (which have a dsRNA genome). Knowing the genome type and the family clarifies why Ebola is classified as an RNA virus in Filoviridae.