Characterisation of infectious Ebola virus from the ongoing outbreak to guide response activities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo: a phylogenetic and in vitro analysis.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The ongoing Ebola virus outbreak in the Ituri and North Kivu Provinces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which began in July, 2018, is the second largest ever recorded. Despite civil unrest, outbreak control measures and the administration of experimental therapies and a vaccine have been initiated. The aim of this study was to test the efficacy of candidate therapies and diagnostic tests with the outbreak strain Ituri Ebola virus. Lacking a virus isolate from this outbreak, a recombinant Ituri Ebola virus was compared with a similarly engineered Makona virus from the 2013-16 outbreak.

Methods

Using Ebola virus sequences provided by organisations in DR Congo and a reverse genetics system, we generated an authentic Ebola virus from the ongoing outbreak in It

SUBMITTER: McMullan LK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11144275 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature