Chinese scientists at Hebei Medical University have engineered a deadly Ebola virus using a glycoprotein found in the virus that wiped out a group of hamsters within three days. The study, published in Science Direct, found that the hamsters developed severe systemic diseases similar to those observed in human Ebola patients, including multi-organ failure. The researchers used a contagious disease of livestock and added a protein found in Ebola, which allows the virus to infect cells and spread throughout the human body. After the injection, some hamsters developed scabs over the surface of their eyeballs, affecting their vision. The researchers said that their aim was to reproduce the symptoms of Ebola in a laboratory so as to better understand the condition and prevent its spread. They used a different virus called vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) to carry Ebola glycoprotein which plays a crucial role in helping the virus enter and infect cells of its host.
