As the Ebola virus rages on in West Africa, researches are hard at work trying to look for means of containing the highly contagious, deadly virus. At present, scientists are making use of all the tools of microbiology that are at their disposal to try and mimic the virus and come up with a potential cure or to at least impede its effects. They want to make sure that the health community will be ready if the virus should strike again. At the moment, there are already several drug candidates that are in the running for further clinical testing, but are still on hold in laboratories, waiting for federal approval or private funding.
The Ebola virus has a sporadic and evolving nature that makes it hard for researchers to zero in on a specific course of action in developing a drug that can manage its symptoms, this according to Prof. Justin Julander, an associate professor of virology at the Utah State University. Prof. Julander and his team are working on methods that can be employed using animal models to test drugs for yellow fever, Ebola virus, and other super diseases. With erratic diseases such as these, the researcher says, "The outbreaks are so random, you may have a huge problem. It is difficult to plan a clinical trial for something like Ebola."
Right now, there are several research studies that are already underway that scientists are hoping can give the world something to use against the lethal Ebola virus.
The now popular Zmapp drug, for example, is a drug that was synthesized from the antibodies extracted from a tobacco plant when it formed antibodies in response to a combination of natural tobacco virus and Ebola antibodies.
The vesicular stomatitis virus, that is lethal for horses and cattle, is also being used to create an antibody for the surface coating of the Ebola virus. They have seen success in animal trials lately, as monkeys that have been used in the testing were injected with the antibodies and were subsequently protected against the same viral strain that is now affecting West Africa.
A technology called RNA interference has produced the BCX4430 drug that blocks the virus' messenger RNA, keeping it from replicating.