Ebola Death Toll Rises: Epidemic In West Africa

Ebola Death Toll Rises: Epidemic In West Africa

The deadly Ebola virus has killed 887 people so far as it is spreading in West Africa. Scientists and health experts are looking for a cure that can halt the epidemic in its track. Drugmakers are using the tobacco plant as a fast and reasonably priced way to harness biotechnology for the treatment of this deadly disease. The treatment which had previously been used in lab animals has been given for treating 2 medical workers in Liberia.

The treatment involves the use of proteins known as monoclonal antibodies to bind and prevent the activation of the Ebola virus. Biotech companies have been testing such antibodies but the new Ebola treatment Zmapp developed by Mapp Pharmaceuticals may be the new ray of hope for the grim situation in West Africa. The antibodies produced by Mapp Pharmaceuticals were produced in tobacco plants at Kentucky Bioprocessing which is a unit of Reynolds American.

The tobacco plant produced monoclonals are being referred to as "plantibodies" and Erica Ollman Saphire at the Scripps Research Institute has been quoted by media as saying "Tobacco makes for a good vehicle to express the antibodies because it is inexpensive and it can produce a lot. It is grown in a greenhouse and you can manufacture kilograms of the materials. It is much less expensive than cell culture." In the standard mode of genetic engineering , the DNA is slipped into the bacteria and the microbes lead to the production of a protein that can be used to ward off the disease.

Another approach to the treatment of Ebola involves a method called molecular "pharming"uses a plant rather than bacteria and this is the approach used by Mapp. The plant in question is Nicotiana benthanmianas. The Ebola virus is treated in the following manner way through this. A gene is inserted into the virus which is used to infect the tobacco plant. The virus is a mini-Trojan hose which carried engineered DNA into the plant. Cells which have infected with the Ebola virus along with the gene being carried with it produce a target protein. The tobacco leaves are harvested and the protein is extracted following purification.

ZMapp's protein is a monoclonal antibody that resembles disease-fighting antibodies. But it has a powerful attraction for particular cells including viruses such as Ebola. Therefore, this fatal attraction is just what is needed to destroy this deadly virus. The protein attaches itself to the virus cells and inactivates them.

The drug has been produced only in small quantities so far. More may be needed. While the USFDA still has to approve the drug, it has been used to treat the 2 Americans already. The situation in Liberia is desperate. Relatives of Ebola victims are defying government orders to dump infected bodies in the streets of West Africa. In Nigeria, where the first death from Ebola occurred in late July, authorities have indicated that 8 people who have come into contact with the deceased US citizen Patrick Sawyer have now started showing signs of the disease. The death toll is massive in Guinea where the outbreak was detected in March earlier this year. Sierra Leone and Liberia are suffering with the toll now reaching epidemic proportions and a rapid outbreak of the virus.

The 3 countries are making every effort to combat the deadly virus. This fatal disease is highly contagious and the virus is showing every sign of overrunning healthcare systems in the poorest regions across the globe. Fearing quarantine, people are dumping the bodies of dead Ebola victims on the streets and less than half of those infected surviving the disease, Ebola isolation wards are regarded as death sentences.

In Lagos which is the biggest city in Africa concerns regarding the spread of the Ebola virus are high because 14 people have come into contact with Sawyer following his arrival on a flight from Liberia. Sierra Leone as well as Liberia and Guinea will receive $260 million from the African Development Bank and the World Bank. But fear is high as health workers in Monrovia are now staying home due to worries of contracting the disease. Around 55% of those who were infected by this virus have died so far. Where other methods have failed , plantibodies may succeed.