The results could be a real breakthrough
Chinese scientists created a mutant Ebola virus that causes terrible symptoms to circumvent biosafety rules, Western media claim. Hamsters infected with the engineered virus died within two to three days. The results obtained could be a breakthrough in the use of animals for the safe study of the Ebola virus.
Chinese scientists created a virus in the laboratory containing components of the Ebola virus, which killed a group of hamsters, writes the Daily Mail.
A group of researchers from Hebei Medical University used an infectious disease of livestock and added a protein found in Ebola fever , which allows the virus to infect cells and spread throughout the human body.
A group of hamsters given the lethal injection «developed severe systemic illnesses similar to those seen in humans with Ebola,» including multiple organ failure, the study said.
One particularly horrifying symptom was that that infected hamsters developed a discharge from their eyes that impaired their vision and covered the surface of their eyeballs with scabs
While the experiment may raise concerns about another lab leak, the researchers say their goal was to find suitable animal models that could safely mimic Ebola symptoms in a laboratory setting.
The study found that infected hamsters can become a suitable model for studying the spread and treatment of Ebola in the future.
Ebola must be controlled in biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) facilities, which are special high-security laboratories while many of them are specific to BLS-2.
To get around this in a lower security environment, the scientists used a different virus called vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which they engineered to contain a part of the Ebola virus called a glycoprotein (GP), which plays a critical role in the virus entering its cells. host and infecting them.
The team studied five female and five male hamsters that were three weeks old.
All female Syrian hamsters experienced a decrease in rectal temperature and an 18 percent weight loss — all of which died within two to three days.
Five male hamsters lost 15 percent in weight and died from the disease within three and a half days later.
However, two male hamsters survived and gained 20 percent more weight than before infection.
Scientists removed organs from the dead animals and found that the virus accumulated in the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, stomach, intestines and brain tissue.
The highest levels of the virus were found in the liver, and the lowest in the brain.
«This is an indication that 3-week-old Syrian hamsters infected with VSV-EBOV/GP may have a role in studying optic nerve diseases caused by EVD,» the team shared in the study, which was published in the Chinese journal Virologica Sinica.
The team concluded that infected hamsters experienced rapid onset of symptoms, liver shock, systemic infection, and development of severe systemic disease similar to that seen in humans who have contracted the Ebola virus.
They also noted that the experiments enabled rapid preclinical evaluation of medical countermeasures against Ebola in the BLS-2 setting, concluding the study was a success.
The last major outbreak of the virus, which occurred from 2014 to 2016 in several West African countries, was fatal, it said in the report of the World Health Organization (WHO).
In those two years, more than 28,600 people were reportedly infected and around 11,300 died, the Daily Mail reported.
The virus spread from West Africa to Europe and even to the United States.
“A surrogate virus and a corresponding hamster model of EVD will improve the safety and cost-effectiveness of Ebola virus research,” the researchers wrote in their study.
Testing infectious viruses is essential to achieving breakthroughs in treatment and prevention.
But leaks do happen in laboratories, and these incidents can lead to the spread of the virus to those outside the laboratory.
Experts have confirmed that respiratory viruses that are spread by coughing and sneezing are more likely to spread among population.
Data released in March this year showed that laboratory breaches occur every year and include the release of controlled pathogens such as tuberculosis and anthrax.
Between 70 and 100 leaks are reported each year.
However, Dr. Richard Ebright, a chemical biologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey, told DailyMail.com that it was unlikely that a VSV-related lab leak would occur. will lead to widespread infection in the population.
«Before undertaking research at Biosafety Level 2, it will be necessary to ensure that the new chimeric virus does not infect or replicate in human cells and does not pose a risk of infectivity, transmissibility and pathogenicity for humans,» he said.
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