Earliest infected cells for Filovirus infections are presumed to be which cell type?

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Filoviruses hand the earliest replication to cells of the innate immune system. The most likely initial targets are macrophages (the tissue-resident form of monocytes) and dendritic cells, which are abundant in tissues and readily take up virus upon exposure. When these cells become infected, they serve as key factories for viral replication and help ferry the virus into the bloodstream and to other organs, fueling rapid dissemination and a strong inflammatory response. Lymphocytes themselves are not typically infected early; their numbers fall during infection due to immune system chaos and bystander apoptosis rather than direct viral replication. Epithelial cells and neurons can be affected as disease progresses, but they are not the first cells to be infected.