PetriKey

Virus

Epstein-Barr virus

B-cell tropic herpesvirus

EP-styne BAR

virusdnaenvelopedherpesvirusb-cellmononucleosis

High-yield clue

Herpesvirus + B-cell tropism + heterophile antibody vocabulary.

Overview

EBV is used to teach herpesvirus latency, B-cell tropism, mononucleosis vocabulary, and heterophile antibody testing concepts.

Classification

  • Enveloped virus
  • Double-stranded DNA
  • Herpesvirus

Lab & identification clues

  • Heterophile antibody test vocabulary
  • Atypical lymphocyte concept
  • Serology vocabulary

Associations

  • Infectious mononucleosis vocabulary
  • Burkitt lymphoma association
  • Nasopharyngeal carcinoma association

Commonly confused with

  • Cytomegalovirus
  • Acute HIV vocabulary

Your notes

Original student-study summary. Sources checked: OpenStax Microbiology 2e, NCBI Bookshelf Medical Microbiology, and CDC topic pages where applicable; reviewed 2026-06. Educational only; no diagnosis, treatment, dosing, or specimen-handling guidance.

OpenStax: Microbiology 2e organism classification foundationssourceNCBI Bookshelf: Medical Microbiology organism chapterssourceCDC: CDC disease and public-health topic pagessource