Mokola virus [SEP] parent taxon
Mokola lyssavirus
Mokola virus (MOKV) is a RNA virus related to rabies virus that has been sporadically isolated from mammals across sub-Saharan Africa. The majority of isolates have come from domestic cats exhibiting symptoms characteristically associated to rabies virus infection.
There have been two reported cases of humans being infected with Mokola virus.
Classification.
Mokola virus (MOKV) is a member of the genus "Lyssavirus", which belongs to the family "Rhabdoviridae". MOKV is one of four lyssaviruses found in Africa.
The other three viruses are the classic rabies virus, Duvenhage virus and Lagos bat virus.
Emergence.
MOKV was first isolated in Nigeria, in 1968, from three shrews ("Crocidura" species) found in the Mokola forest, Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria. The virus was shown to be morphologically and serologically related to rabies virus. Since the initial isolation of MOKV, the virus has been mainly isolated in domestic cats and small mammals in sub-Saharan Africa.
There have been two recorded cases of