Chinese scientists create 90% lethal Ebola-like virus to study eye disorders

New model reveals promising insights into Ebola virus research

Vesicular stomatitis (VSV), carries a part of the Ebola virus called glycoprotein (GP). It helps the virus to enter and infect the cells. Five female and five male hamsters that were up to three weeks old died within three days.

They showed symptoms similar to those in Ebola patients, such as weight loss, multi-organ failure, severe eye inflammation, and ulcers. Additionally, the hamsters had high levels of the virus in their bodies.

Scientists are optimistic that this new model could help in future research on Ebola-related eye disorders. “All animals died within 2-3 days after infection,” the researchers observed, noting that this model could be useful for testing Ebola vaccines.

According to the scientists, this model allowed for quick preclinical testing of Ebola virus countermeasures in BSL-2 conditions.

They added, “This surrogate model is a safe, effective, and cost-efficient tool for rapid preclinical evaluation of medical countermeasures against the Ebola virus under BSL-2 conditions. It has the potential to accelerate technological advances and breakthroughs in combating Ebola virus disease.”

More accessible to researchers for studying

The Ebola virus causes internal bleeding and tissue damage and is spread by direct contact with infected body fluids, such as blood or sweat, or by touching contaminated objects. This is significant because studying Ebola requires expensive and high-level biological security, like that in BSL-4 facilities.

As a result, the virus has been less accessible to scientists. According to the scientists, the development of countermeasures against EBOV has been hindered by the lack of ideal animal models. The reason was that EBOV requires handling in BSL-4 facilities.

In the study, they also analyzed the influence of the virus. They found that the virus had accumulated in critical tissues. Like for example the heart, lungs, liver, spleen, kidneys, intestines, and brain. As the study showed, the highest viral loads were found in the liver, and the lowest levels were found in the brain.

Lab leak?

Dr Richard Ebright, a chemical biologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey told DailyMail.com that it is unlikely that a lab leak involving VSV would lead to widespread infection in the public.

“[It] will be imperative to verify that the novel chimeric virus does not infect and replicate in human cells, and does not pose risk of infectivity, transmissibility, and pathogenicity in humans, before proceeding with studies at biosafety level 2,” he concluded.

Ebola is caused by a group of viruses, known as orthoebolaviruses. They were discovered in 1976 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Since Ebola was first identified in 1976, there have been 29 outbreaks or case reports of Ebola virus disease.

According to the WHO, the 2014–2016 outbreak in West Africa was the largest and most complex Ebola outbreak, with 28 646 reported cases and 11 323 reported deaths.

The findings of the research can be found in Science Direct.