Using an antibody generated at Vanderbilt University Medical Center that neutralizes the Ebola virus, researchers at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, have determined the structure of a “decoy” protein that may enable the virus to evade detection by the immune system. Their findings, published Aug 8 in Nature Microbiology, should aid the design of effective vaccines and antibody treatments against Ebola, which has a 50 percent mortality rate.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – Two major announcements came Tuesday regarding therapidly-spreading Zika virus in the Americas. The Centers for Disease control announced it is at its highest level of activation, and President Barack Obama will ask Congress for nearly $2 billion to prevent it’s spread. There have been 35 reported cases of Zika in the United States, all of them associated with travel to other countries, in Hawaii, California, Minnesota, Texas, Illinois, Arkansas, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, Washington DC, New Jersey and Massachusetts.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Researchers at Vanderbilt University's Vaccine Center just received antibodies from Zika Virus survivors.  On Thursday the World Health Organization announced that there are 31 confirmed cases in the United States.  Health officials believe the virus is transmitted through mosquitos and leads to severe head deformities in newborn babies. Dr. James Crowe said, “Last year in Brazil a major outbreak started and we’ve seen thousands of cases now.”

There may be a "silver bullet" for Ebola, a family of hemorrhagic viruses, one of which has killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa in the past two years. Researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston (UTMB) reported today in the journal Cell that they have isolated human monoclonal antibodies from Ebola survivors which can neutralize multiple species of the virus.

From blood samples of survivors of a 2007 Ebola outbreak in Uganda, researchers have isolated antibodies that are protective and can neutralize two other species of Ebolavirus, including ­­Zaire ebolavirus—the one responsible for the massive 2014 outbreak in West Africa. The binding specificities of these human monoclonal antibodies and their activity in animal models of Ebolavirus appeared today (January 21) in Cell.

Highlights •Natural Ebolavirus infection induced B cells encoding cross-reactive antibodies •Some cross-reactive human antibodies neutralized multiple Ebolavirus species •A large proportion of BDBV-neutralizing antibodies bound to the glycan cap •Glycan cap-specific antibodies exhibited very potent neutralizing activity Summary

James Crowe Jr., M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Vaccine Center, and Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), recently participated in a U.S. Senate National Institutes of Health (NIH) caucus briefing held in Washington, D.C., by Senate NIH caucus co-chairs Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Dick Durbin (D-IL).

Recently, two Ebola survivors from Nigeria flew to Vanderbilt, not only to share their story of survival, but to provide blood samples for ongoing research in the Vanderbilt Medical Center. Researchers at Vanderbilt are developing antibodies that could help treat people infected with Ebola and protect people at high risk of infection.