UW research shows promise in fighting Zika

Monkeys developing natural immunity

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Research at the University of Wisconsin has shown positive, natural results for fighting the Zika virus in monkeys.

UW’s pathology professor David O’Connor delivered the news during testimony at a senate committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday.  

The researchers infected monkeys with the type of Zika virus causing an epidemic that first became apparent in South America in 2015 and found that those monkeys resisted infection by the same Zika strain 10 weeks later.

“A number of people who are going to get infected naturally – in Puerto Rico, potentially here in the continental U.S., certainly in Central and South  America – those people, if they get infected now, probably aren’t going to get reinfected.”

But their findings also uncovered a stark contrast in the length of infection of pregnant monkeys versus males and non-pregnant females.

Though non-pregnant animals in the study were found to be free of Zika virus within 10 days of infection, the virus persisted in the blood of pregnant monkeys for 30 to 70 days.

“We have good news for most people: If you are not pregnant and not at risk of becoming pregnant, you probably don’t need to be worried about Zika,” O’Connor says. “But my concern for Zika virus in pregnancy is much higher now than it was six months ago.”

A couple of vaccines have yielded promising results in O’Connor’s monkeys, as well as in trials with mice. As for humans?

“We’re probably a few years away from having a vaccine,” O’Connor said. “So, you can imagine that getting a natural infection with Zika virus now, could effectively buy some time until such time that a vaccine is available to boost immunity or provide broad immunity to everyone.”

Human trials are set to begin soon on a couple of Zika vaccines.