Horse antibodies for Ebola infection: Effective, economical treatment developed

New Delhi: Scientists have found an effective and economical treatment for Ebola infection, says a new study.

As per the research by an international team led by Queensland researchers, the post-exposure treatment made with antibodies from horses could be used in the next Ebola outbreak.

"This is a cost-effective treatment that can be used in low-income countries in Africa where equine production facilities are already in operation for producing snake-bite antivenin," said one of the lead researchers Alexander Khromykh, Professor at University of Queensland in Australia.

"It's the first time that equine antibodies have been shown to work effectively against Ebola infection," Khromykh pointed out.

Ebola virus disease (EVD), formerly known as Ebola haemorrhagic fever, is a serious illness, causing severe bleeding, organ failure and can lead to death.

The virus is transmitted to people from wild animals and insects. In humans, the virus is spread from one person to another through contact with bodily fluids such as blood.

The largest recorded outbreak of Ebola virus occurred primarily in West Africa from 2014 to 2016, infecting 30,000 people and killing more than 11,000, with exported cases in Europe and North America.

The outbreak resulted in the establishment of the United Nations Mission for Ebola Emergency Response and an acceleration of research on development of vaccines and therapies.

This led to the development of monoclonal antibodies that were used in Britain to treat infected health workers returning from Africa.

In the study, the treatment was administered over five days to monkeys infected 24 hours previously with a lethal dose of Ebola virus.

They found that the treatment suppressed viral loads significantly and protected the animals from mortality.

"The down side is that monoclonal antibodies require considerable investment for scale-up and manufacture, and are expensive," Khromykh said.

"Equine antibodies are a considerably cheaper alternative, with manufacturing capacity already in place in Africa. Antibodies from vaccinated horses provide a low-cost alternative, and are already in use for rabies, botulism and diphtheria," Khromykh said.

The resulted from a strong collaboration between Australian, French and Russian scientists and a Queensland-based company Plasvacc Pty Ltd.

Currently there are no licensed vaccines for Ebola although two potential candidates are undergoing evaluation.

The new findings have been published in the journal Scientific Reports.

(With IANS inputs)