Experimental Ebola drug shows 100% success in monkeys
The Ebola virus as viewed through an electron microscope. (Antwerp Institute of Tropical Medicine)
CTVNews.ca Staff
Published Friday, August 29, 2014 1:06PM EDT
An experimental Ebola drug used to treat monkeys has been shown to reverse the virus in the infected primates.
The research paper published online in the journal Nature on Friday shows the drug, called ZMapp, resulted in 100 per cent recovery in the 18 monkeys tested.
The drug, developed by Canadian and U.S. researchers, was credited with helping two American aid workers who were infected with Ebola in Liberia. They both have since recovered from the virus.
The experimental drug requires safety testing in humans, but the
researchers said the drug could be a promising option for treating the
ongoing Ebola outbreak that has killed more than 1,500 people in Western
Africa.
The authors reported that three doses of ZMapp, administered at three-day intervals beginning on the third, fourth or fifth day after monkeys were infected with Ebola, resulted in the survival of all 18 animals.
The treatment reversed severe Ebola symptoms such as excessive bleeding and rashes.
The three monkeys that did not receive ZMapp all died of the Ebola virus by day eight.
The Ebola virus strain used to infect monkeys in the experiment is different than the strain in the current West Africa outbreak. However, the authors noted that they studied the two strains and concluded that ZMapp can prevent replication of the Ebola strain in Africa. http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/experimental-ebola-drug-shows-100-success-in-monkeys-1.1982965
The research paper published online in the journal Nature on Friday shows the drug, called ZMapp, resulted in 100 per cent recovery in the 18 monkeys tested.
The drug, developed by Canadian and U.S. researchers, was credited with helping two American aid workers who were infected with Ebola in Liberia. They both have since recovered from the virus.
The authors reported that three doses of ZMapp, administered at three-day intervals beginning on the third, fourth or fifth day after monkeys were infected with Ebola, resulted in the survival of all 18 animals.
The treatment reversed severe Ebola symptoms such as excessive bleeding and rashes.
The three monkeys that did not receive ZMapp all died of the Ebola virus by day eight.
The Ebola virus strain used to infect monkeys in the experiment is different than the strain in the current West Africa outbreak. However, the authors noted that they studied the two strains and concluded that ZMapp can prevent replication of the Ebola strain in Africa. http://www.ctvnews.ca/health/experimental-ebola-drug-shows-100-success-in-monkeys-1.1982965
