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The Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) is a virus of the herpes family, and is one of the most common viruses in humans. Most people become infected with EBV at an early age, which is often asymptomatic but may cause infectious mononucleosis. Symptoms of infectious mononucleosis are fever, sore throat, and swollen lymph glands.

Sometimes, a swollen spleen or liver involvement may develop. Heart problems or involvement of the central nervous system occurs only rarely, and infectious mononucleosis is almost never fatal. There are no known associations between active EBV infection and problems during pregnancy, such as miscarriage or birth defects. Although the symptoms of infectious mononucleosis usually resolve in 1 or 2 months, EBV dormant or latent in a few cells in the throat and blood for life. Periodically, the virus can reactivate and is commonly found in the saliva of infected individuals. This reactivation usually occurs without symptoms of illness.

Epstein-Barr Virus also establishes a lifelong dormant infection in some cells of the body’s immune system. A late event in a very few carriers of this virus is the emergence of Burkitt’s lymphoma and nasopharyngeal carcinoma, two rare cancers that are not normally found in the United States. EBV appears to play an important role in these malignancies, but is probably not the sole cause of disease.

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