Researchers hope to test Zika virus treatment in a year

Researchers hope to test Zika virus treatment in a year

There is no cure or vaccine for the virus, which was discovered in the Zika Forest in Uganda in 1947. It was detected in Brazil for the first time last year and has since spread to at least 26 countries in the Americas. The virus has mild effects - red eyes, fever, joint pains and a rash - and nearly 80 percent of people who are infected experience no symptoms.

Kalil, an immunologist, said the institute was cultivating the virus in quantities sufficient to start tests in isolating antibodies in rodents. Researchers would then attempt to produce them in larger quantities in horses and purify the antibodies in the laboratory before starting tests on humans.

"The antibodies ... could be injected into women with Zika to neutralize the virus," Kalil told Reuters in an interview. "I think we can reach that point in a year."

Researchers do not have a clear model of how the virus operates in animals or humans. Several organizations are working on the problem in rodents and primates because of the urgency, Kalil said.

Scientists generally prefer to use human antibodies in drugs because the immune system might react to them, but it has been done. Such was the case of early versions of Mapp Biopharmaceutical Inc’s ZMapp antiviral treatment for Ebola, which was developed in mouse blood cells that were exposed to samples containing Ebola virus fragments. These cells were genetically modified to make them more human.