'Achilles Heel' Of Ebola Found By Scientists

Scientists believe they have found a way to provide 100% protection against Ebola, after discovering the "Achilles heel" of the virus.

Testing on mice has revealed that Ebola can only infect and kill victims if it manages to attach to a protein known as Niemann-Pick C1 (NPC1).

Mice which were genetically modified to be devoid of both NPC1 genes were completely immune from infection.

Meanwhile, animals left with one gene also had significant levels of resistance against Ebola, which has killed more than 11,000 people in 18 months.

But according to researchers from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, disabling NPC1 permanently can lead to severe illness in its own right, as the protein is crucial for transporting cholesterol around the body.

People without NPC1 often suffer from a neurodegenerative disorder known as Niemann-Pick disease, and this causes cells to become fatally clogged with cholesterol.

However, experts are confident that disabling these genes for a short time – to prevent an Ebola infection – would not cause lasting damage.

Dr Andrew Herbert, who co-authored the report, said: "We think patients would be able to tolerate the treatment, which would be needed for only a short time."

Another researcher, Dr John Dye, added: "The underlying story of an Ebola infection is that your immune system and the virus are in a race.

"If you can do anything to control the amount of virus that is in the system, keep it below a certain threshold, your immune system in many cases will win that race."

The next challenge for doctors is developing drugs which can effectively inhibit NPC1 temporarily.

Three potential treatments were used during the trial but two of them only managed to offer a minimal level of protection.