Ebola, one of the deadliest human viruses, can hide in the brain for years despite treatment. This is what American researchers observed in monkeys that survived the initial infection.
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[EN VIDÉO] Interview 4/5: understanding the Ebola virus The Ebola virus acts spectacularly. The infection causes an acute viral haemorrhagic fever which kills in nearly 90% of cases. We met Jean-François Saluzzo, virologist with the WHO, so that he could tell us about the conditions of transmission and the symptoms linked to this virus originating in Africa.
In an experiment carried out on primates non-humans, theU.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases demonstrated the ability of virus Ebola to hide in the brain for years.
” We observed that approximately 20% of monkeys that survived a lethal dose of Ebola virus after monoclonal antibody treatment still have persistent infection – specifically in the ventricular system of the brain where the liquid cerebrospinal is produced and circulates – and even when Ebola has been cleared from other organs », explains Xiankun Zen, director of the study published in Science Translational Medicine. The case of two monkeys is particularly worrying. The animals survived the initial infection, but eventually died from a resurgence of the disease.
Ebola persisted in the brains of monkeys treated with monoclonal antibodies
The persistent presence of the Ebola virus in the brain induced the death of ependymocytes – a family of cells that are part of the blood-brain barrier of the choroid plexus. Severe local inflammation ensued and the virus spread throughout the ventricular system of the brain causing animal death. The Ebola virus can also hide in humans.
In 2021, scientists analyzed the case of a man in whom the virus remained latent for five years in his testicles. He allegedly infected a woman in Guinea, which triggered an epidemic outbreak in the region. If the vaccines and treatments against Ebola make it possible to contain epidemic outbreaks, scientists also warn of the need for long-term follow-up of survivors to prevent cases of recrudescence. The Ebola virus is one of human viruses the deadliest known with more than half of those infected succumbing to the disease.
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