Possible treatment for dangerous Hendra virus

William Atkins
Friday, 30 October 2009 18:55

Science - Health

An Australian and American team of scientists have developed a potential treatment for the severe and sometimes deadly Hendra virus.


According to the October 30, 2009 CSIRO article “Breakthrough in fight against Hendra virus,” the scientific team has shown that when they administer human monoclonal antibodies into ferrets after they are exposed to the Nipah virus, it protects the animals from the disease.

The research team is studying Nipah virus in ferrets because the animal and the virus closely resembles the Hendra virus in humans.

The paper summarizing the efforts of this team of American and Australian scientists appears in the journal PLOS Pathogens. It is entitled “A Neutralizing Human Monoclonal Antibody Protects against Lethal Disease in a New Ferret Model of Acute Nipah Virus Infection.”

The paper states, “The underlying pathology seen in the ferret closely resembles that seen in Nipah virus infected humans, characterized as a widespread multisystemic vasculitis, with virus replicating in highly vascular tissues including lung, spleen and brain, with recoverable virus from a variety of tissues.”

During the study, the scientists gave ferrets the Nipah virus. One group did not receive the human monoclonal antibodies m102.4 (the control group), while a second group did receive it.

All ferrets in the control group died without the m102.4, while the ferrets receiving the dosage survived their infection of Nipah virus.

The paper concludes, “This study is the first successful post-exposure passive antibody therapy for Nipah virus using a human monoclonal antibody.”

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