Epstein Barr virus (EBV) is a member of the herpesvirus family and one of the most common human viruses. Most people become infected with EBV during their lives. Primary infections usually results in infectious mononucleosis (glandular fever) but the virus can also lay dormant in B lymphocytes and when reactivated become associated with more serious disease such as Burkitt's lymphoma, nasopharyngeal carcinoma and Hodgkin's disease. EBV latently infects B lymphocytes. Infected B cells expre