Scientists Take Key Step in Fight Against Dreaded Ebola Virus

Scientists make another key step in development of a drug against the Ebola virus

Scientists in the United States announced on Sunday that they had made another key step in the development of a drug against the dreaded African virus Ebola, which is feared to be used as a bio-terrorism weapon.

They found a new treatment to be effective in 60 percent of rhesus monkeys who were test subjects who were infected by a deadly Ebola strain. A related drug was 100 percent effective in blocking infection in cynomolgus monkeys against the Marburg virus, a cousin of Ebola.

Ebola and Marburg viruses are part of the filo-viruses family, which cause hemorrhagic fever, an infection with mortality rates of up to 90 percent.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has allowed the study to proceed with limited human trials after analyzing the findings of the scientists.

Belonging to a class of compounds called PMO (Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligomers), the drugs used in the test are designed to slow down the replication of the virus, which gives some time for the immune system to prepare a response and kill the virus.

The study was done by the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases with bio-tech firm AVI BioPharma, and published in the journal Nature Medicine.

After the September 11 attacks against the United States, the Pentagon increased the funding of research on Ebola and Anthrax treatments which are considered as potential sources for biological warfare.

Since 1976, some 1,200 deaths from 1,850 cases of Ebola have occurred, according to the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO).

Posted by George Daniels on Monday August 23 2010, 9:05 AM EDT. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0