Treatment with interferon-α2b and ribavirin improves outcome in MERS-CoV-infected rhesus macaques.

ABSTRACT: The emergence of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) is of global concern: the virus has caused severe respiratory illness, with 111 confirmed cases and 52 deaths at the time of this article's publication. Therapeutic interventions have not been evaluated in vivo; thus, patient management relies exclusively on supportive care, which, given the high case-fatality rate, is not highly effective. The rhesus macaque is the only known model organism for MERS-CoV infection, developing an acute localized to widespread pneumonia with transient clinical disease that recapitulates mild to moderate human MERS-CoV cases. The combination of interferon-α2b and ribavirin was effective in reducing MERS-CoV replication in vitro; therefore, we initiated this treatment 8 h after inoculatio

SUBMITTER: Falzarano D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4093902 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature