Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a human gamma herpes virus. Its bipartite life cycle includes latent and lytic stages. Although the main target of EBV is B lymphocytes, it can also infect epithelial cells, T lymphocytes and natural killer cells. After infection, the virus is latent in lymphocytes or epithelial cells, and products a variety of latent infection-associated proteins to assist immune escape and participate in the occurrence of various malignant tumors and non-infectious lymphoproliferative diseases. This article will review the aspects of the EBV infection pathway, the life cycle and susceptibility of the virus.