MCAT Mini passage: Treatment for Ebola hemorrhagic fever

Ebola hemorrhagic fever begins with fever and flu-like symptoms that occur when phagocytic cells encounter the virus and release an excess of cytokines. In the terminal stages of the disease, the virus infects endothelial cells, compromising them completely and eventually leading to hypovolemic shock. Though there is no vaccine for the virus, several experimental drugs have shown promise in treating Ebola. The most successful treatments use monoclonal antibody (mAb) mixtures, such as MB-003 and ZMAb.

Recently, a group of scientists performed a trial using optimized mixtures that combined the best components of MB-003 and ZMAb. They investigated the effect of the resulting two cocktails, Zmapp1 and Zmapp2, on groups of Rhesus macaques infected with Ebola. A control group was given non-specific adjuvants but no monoclonal antibodies. Drugs were administered on days 3, 6, and 9 after the infection, and survival rates of each group are shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1 Survival rate of Rhesus macaques after infection with Ebola virus