Protein from survivors’ blood may help cure Ebola

A researcher suggests that proteins from the blood donated by an Ebola survivor may be used to develop a new class of drugs aimed at defeating the deadly epidemic.

Dr. James Crowe, a researcher at Vanderbilt University in the US, received the first blood sample in mid-November from Dr. Rick Sacra, a physician from University of Massachusetts who contracted Ebola while working in Liberia.

Crowe is cooperating with a US-based pharmaceutical company which is responsible for the research and development of ZMapp, a drug that is hoped to be used to fight the Ebola outbreak.

With the recent blood donation, Crowe wants to improve ZMapp by isolating the human antibodies of actual survivors and produce a drug effective against all strains of Ebola.

“They can take antibodies they find in my blood and map them out. They are looking for the ones that are most important in neutralizing the virus,” he said in an interview.

Antibodies are immune-system proteins that seek and destroy foreign invaders, such as viruses or bacteria.

The donation is considered as a breakthrough as accessing the blood samples of the victims has become almost impossible, with transfer restrictions being applied both in West Africa and US.

The disease has already taken 7,000 lives in West Africa. The epidemic has been most devastating in the countries of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Ebola is a form of hemorrhagic fever with diarrhea, vomiting, as well as internal and external bleeding as its symptoms. The virus spreads through contact with the bodily fluids of an infected person.