Chinese scientists create mutated Ebola virus to bypass biosecurity rules – and it causes horrific symptoms and kills a group of hamsters

Chinese scientists developed a virus in a laboratory using parts of Ebola that killed a group of hamsters.

A team of researchers from Hebei Medical University took a contagious cattle disease and added a protein found in Ebola, which allows the virus to infect cells and spread through the human body.

The group of hamsters that received the lethal injection “developed severe systemic diseases similar to those observed in human Ebola patients, including multi-organ failure,” the study said.

One particularly gruesome symptom was that the infected hamsters developed secretions in their eyes, affecting their vision and causing crusts to form on the surface of the eyeballs.

While the experiment may raise fears of another lab leak, the researchers say that was their goal to find the right animal models that can safely mimic Ebola symptoms in a laboratory setting.

A team of researchers from Hebei Medical University took a contagious cattle disease and added a protein found in Ebola that allows it to infect cells and spread throughout the human body (stock).

The study suggested that infected hamsters could be a good model for studying the spread and treatment of Ebola in the future.

Ebola must be handled in biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) facilities. These are special, high-security labs, while many are BLS-2 only.

To get around this in a lower security environment, scientists used another virus, the vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV), which they developed to carry a part of the Ebola virus, called the glycoprotein (GP), which plays a crucial role when the virus enters. infect cells of its host.

The infected hamsters developed secretions in their eyes, which obstructed their vision and covered the surface of the eyeballs

The team studied five female and five male hamsters, all three weeks old.

All female Syrian hamsters showed reduced rectal temperature and weight loss of up to 18 percent; all died between two and three days.

The five male hamsters lost 15 percent weight and succumbed to the disease within three and a half days.

However, two male hamsters survived and gained 20 percent more weight than before the infection.

The team collected organs from the dead animals and found that the virus accumulated in the heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, stomach, intestines and brain tissue.

The highest levels were found in the liver and the lowest in the brain.

“It is a sign that three-week-old Syrian hamsters infected with VSV-EBOV/GP have the potential to play a role in the study of optic neuropathy caused by EVD,” the team shared in the studypublished in the Chinese journal Virologica Sinica.

The group of female hamsters also had multi-organ failure

The team concluded that the infected hamsters were visible rapid onset of symptoms, liver shock, systemic infection, and developed severe systemic diseases similar to those observed in human EBOV patients.

They also noted that the experiments a rapid preclinical evaluation of medical countermeasures against Ebola under BLS-2 conditions, concluding that the study was a success.

The last major outbreak of the virus occurred from 2014 to 2016 in several West African countries and was fatal. a report The World Health Organization (WHO) said this.

During those two years, more than 28,600 people were reportedly infected and about 11,300 died.

The virus spread from West Africa to Europe and even to the United States.

“The surrogate virus and the matched hamster EVD (Ebola virus disease) model will improve the safety and economics of research in the EBOV field,” the researchers wrote in the study.

Testing of infectious viruses is necessary for breakthroughs in treatment and prevention.

But laboratory leaks do happen, and these incidents can lead to spread to people outside the laboratory.

Experts have confirmed that respiratory viruses – those spared by coughing and sneezing – are more likely to spread widely through the population.

Data released in March showed that laboratory leakage incidents occur every year, including releases of controlled pathogens such as tuberculosis and anthrax.

Between 70 and 100 releases are recorded annually.

Dr. However, Richard Ebright, a chemical biologist at Rutgers University in New Jersey, told DailyMail.com that a laboratory leak involving VSV would be unlikely to lead to widespread infections among the public.

“(It) will be imperative to verify that the new chimeric virus does not infect and replicate in human cells, and does not pose a risk of infectivity, transmissibility and pathogenicity in humans, before proceeding with biosafety level 2 studies,” it said he. .