Table 3.

Family Filoviridae

Incorrect usage	Correct usage	Explanation
Ebola and the other filoviruses: a threat to Africa	Ebola virus and other filoviruses: a threat to Africa	Vernacular names for taxa are mass nouns, i.e. they are preceded by a zero article to indicate that the noun is indefinite
	Ebola virus and other filovirids: a threat to Africa
Infections by viruses of the Filoviridae	Infections by viruses of the family Filoviridae	ICVCN Article 3 Rule IX-3.41 requires that “…the name of taxon [in this case “family”] shall precede the term for the taxonomic unit [in this case “Filoviridae”]” [9]
	Infections by filoviruses
	Infections by filovirids
Filoviridae threaten the existence of the great apes in Africa	Filoviruses threaten the existence of the great apes in Africa	The family Filoviridae is a taxon. Taxa are theoretical concepts and do not exist physically. They are defined by the properties of physical members. Viruses exist physically. A physical entity cannot be a theoretical concept. Filoviruses/filovirids are the vernacular names for (the group of) members of the family Filoviridae. Hence, these vernacular names stand for physical entities
	Filovirids threaten the existence of the great apes in Africa