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Biosecurity News in Brief
Experimental Marburg Virus Vaccine May Confer Protection against Disease when Administered Post-ExposureBy Michael Mair, May 1, 2006 A study, published April 27 as an early online publication by the journal Lancet, found that an experimental vaccine against Marburg haemorrhagic fever may protect against disease when administered after exposure to Marburg virus.[1] The vaccine is comprised of a replication competent, attenuated, recombinant strain of vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV) expressing a surface protein of a strain of Marburg virus (Musoke strain glycoprotein). Marburg haemorrhagic fever is caused by the Marburg virus, a member of the Filovirus family which also includes the Ebola virus.[2] The Filoviruses are often grouped together with other unrelated viruses that also cause illnesses characterized by fever and bleeding and are often referred to as Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHF).[2,3] VHFs are included in the list of Category A Bioterrorism Agents/Diseases by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Filovirus infections, however, are much more severe than the other VHFs. There is no preventive vaccine for Marburg haemorrhagic fever and no treatment has been show to be effective. Researchers vaccinated 5 rhesus macaques with the experimental vaccine and subjected them to a high-dose lethal injection of Marburg virus 20-30 minutes later. While the 3 control animals developed disease and died by 12 days post-challenge, all 5 macaques that were vaccinated did not develop clinical symptoms consistent with Marburg haemorrhagic fever, and they survived for at least 80 days. The authors concluded that "these data suggest that rVSV-based filoviral vaccines might not only have potential as preventive vaccines, but also could be equally useful for postexposure treatment of filoviral infections."[1] References
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