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The filoviruses — Marburg and Ebola — cause hemorrhagic fever and are among the most lethal infectious agents known. No vaccines are available against these viruses, and no therapies have been approved for human use. However, some previous studies have shown limited benefit from postexposure treatment with antifilovirus gamma globulin preparations. Now, using rhesus macaques, U.S. military researchers have tested the effectiveness of polyclonal IgG prepared from the convalescent serum of macaques that, after receiving a viral-vectored vaccine candidate, survived challenge with lethal doses of these viruses.
In an initial experiment, three of three macaques were completely protected against a lethal challenge with Marburg virus when they were…