Encouraging Progress Toward Immunization Against Ebola

Three different species of Ebolavirus have caused repeated disease outbreaks in Africa. Monoclonal antibodies against the species that caused the outbreak in 2014–2015 might be beneficial against that species, but not the others. Indeed, the three species have enough antigenic diversity that developing a vaccine that is effective against all of them has been considered to be unlikely.

Multi-institutional U.S. researchers report that they have identified two monoclonal antibodies that are produced naturally in humans infected with Ebolavirus; in vitro, these antibodies neutralize all three species by targeting parts of the viral surface proteins that are conserved. In mice and guinea pigs, a single treatment with the antibodies, given within …