ST. LOUIS, April 25 (UPI) -- Researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have developed an antibody that successfully treats mice for West Nile Virus.
The virus has killed more than 600 people and sickened thousands more across the United States since it first appeared in New York City six years ago.
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"We could give this antibody to mice as long as five days after infection, when West Nile virus had entered the brain, and it could still cure them," said head researcher Dr. Michael Diamond. "It also completely protected the mice against death."
The virus sickens and kills humans by invading the central nervous system and causing paralysis or coma.
The research is published in this month's issue of Nature Medicine.
