Researchers at Georgia State University have developed an experimental oral antiviral that prevented a measles-like virus from spreading between ferrets through both close contact and the air. The treatment also reduced symptoms when it was given either shortly before or shortly after exposure.
The findings, published in Nature Microbiology, come from scientists at the Center for Translational Antiviral Research (CTAR). Their work focused on canine distemper virus, which produces a disease in ferrets that closely resembles measles.
Antiviral Blocks Two Routes of Transmission
The researchers tested a recently developed drug candidate called GHP-88310 (described in Science Advances). The medication is a broad-spectrum inhibitor of the viral polymerase, an enzyme the virus needs in order to reproduce.
The team examined whether prophylactic (shortly before or after exposure) use of the drug could prevent transmission through direct contact or shared air. GHP-88310 successfully blocked both forms of spread. When the drug was used to treat animals that were already infected, it also reduced the length of time they remained capable of transmitting the virus.
