Mutant Ebola Virus May Evade Drugs, Study Finds
Mutant Ebola Virus May Evade Drugs, Study Finds – Researches reported Tuesday that the Ebola virus strain that’s killed more than 8,600 people in West Africa is mutating in a way that could make experimental drugs less likely to help.
The researches added that they had found 10 new mutations that might interfere with how three of the most advanced drugs work against Ebola. The drugs, including the experimental ZMapp given to several Ebola survivors, should be tested against the current strain. Drug developers must account for such mutations when developing drug therapies.
Virologists have known that the Ebola virus would mutate like all viruses. Last summer an analysis of 99 Ebola virus genomes showed 395 different mutations, according to a report published in August in the journal Science.
The virus that’s sickened more than 21,000 people in Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone is called Ebolavirus Makona variant. It’s similar to the strains that have caused outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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