Antibody Cocktail Cures Monkeys of Ebola

ananyo writes "Monkeys infected with Ebola have been cured by a cocktail of three antibodies first administered 24 hours or more after exposure. The result raises hopes that a future treatment could improve the chances of humans surviving the disease caused by the deadly virus, which kills up to 90% of infected people and could potentially be used as a biological weapon. Most treatment regimes tested to date only improve chances of survival if administered within one hour of infection (abstract)."

Ebola as a Bioweapon

[bmo]

Anyone who actively develops bioweapons is a criminal. He or she is a direct hazard to humanity and needs to be removed from society as soon as possible. We have seen what happens when a particularly virulent illness from MomNature herself wreaks havoc, like the 1918 flu or Bubonic Plague. To deliberately take something such as Ebola and weaponize it shocks the conscience. Unlike nuclear weapons which simply level cities and cause localised radioactive areas, bioweapons are the gift that keeps on giving and do indeed go wildly out of control once they are deployed. This is not idle speculation. We proved it with smallpox blankets.

If you develop bioweapons, you need to be in jail, or dead.

--
BMO

Far more important

[Grayhand]

The odds of weaponized Ebola are fairly small. Viruses are inherently hard to treat so this would have the potential for treating that entire class of virus. A similar approach may even be potentially an option for AIDs since a small percentage of the population produces the antibodies for AIDs. There is reason to think it might work on AIDs since one man was cured when he received a bone marrow transplant from some one that has the natural immunity. The trick is producing enough of the right antibodies.

Re:Ooooooook.

[Tailhook]

Oooooook?

Yes, monkeys were deliberately exposed to Ebola in the name of medical research. Yes, they would have had to be euthanized if the experiment had failed. In fact, they'll likely be killed anyhow just to ensure containment of any form of the virus.

Sorry.

BTW mods; there is nothing wrong with the occasional question from our simian relatives. Just leave this sort of thing for those of us that understand Primate and spare the down-mods.

Re:Ooooooook.

[Scoldog]

I'd be careful calling him a monkey if I was you. The Librarian is an orangutan, and will show his displeasure at being called a monkey by unscrewing your head!