Ebola, _POSSIBLE_ international outbreak

[Patrick O'Neil]

On Sun, 14 May 1995, James T. McKinley wrote:
> 
> Now for a question for the virology types:
> 
> Given that Ebola Reston is so close to Ebola Zaire that they are difficult to 
> tell apart, and that Ebola Reston is apparently harmless in humans, would it 
> be possible to use Ebola Reston as a vaccine for Ebola Zaire?  I know it 
> would be hard to test since Ebola Reston kills monkeys just like Ebola Zaire,
> but if it really came down to it, might it work?  Has nature provided us 
> with a ready 
[...]

I am not aware (yet) of research to test this, though it would appear to 
be obvious to do so.  In any case, it may not work (and if the experiment 
was tried and failed then it would explain the continued "no treatment" 
statements) because, for whatever reason, not all vaccinations produce 
longterm protection.  Sometimes, innoculation with an antigen produces 
only a very short-lived immune response and no production of memory 
cells.  This might be the case with the Ebolas.  On the other hand, the 
antigenicity of Ebola Reston may be sufficiently different from Ebola 
Zaire that antibodies to the former do not react with latter.

If it would provide prophylactic protection in monkeys, then it would not 
matter if normally either virus causes high mortality.  Exposure of 
Reston monkey survivors to the Zaire strain would quickly tell whether 
there is any protection across strains.

Patrick