Re-emergence of ZIKA declared Global Health Emergency by WHO (...

Re-emergence of ZIKA declared Global Health Emergency by WHO ( Fu....g 2020 just keeps on giving)

(ZIKA) ZIKV viral proteins and their roles in virus-host interactions published OCT 14 2020

https://engine.scichina.com/publisher/scp/journal/SCLS/doi/10.1007/s11427-020-1818-4?slug=fulltext

The re-emergence of Zika virus (ZIKV) and its associated neonatal microcephaly and Guillain-Barré syndrome have led the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency.

Envelope protein

The envelope (E) protein is the main component of the icosahedral capsule envelope of the ZIKV particles, responsible for the virus attaching to and entry the host cell, as well as for host adaption, immune recognition and virus pathogenesis. It is also the major protein for inducing neutralizing antibodies against virus infection......

ZIKV infection has been posing a great threat to public health, yet, there are no available drugs, vaccines or therapeutics against ZIKV infections on the market so far. It is becoming extremely urgent to develop effective anti-ZIKV drugs for related disease treatment and prevention.

Reminder - Biotron has several earlier stage programs designing drugs that target a class of virus protein known as viroporins which have a key role in the virus life cycle of a very broad range of viruses, many of which have caused worldwide health issues such as Dengue, Ebola, Middle East Respiratory virus, Influenza and Zika viruses.

Whilst all the focus is on Covid-19 (and rightly so), and we await news on HIV trials with BIT225, the re-emergence of the ZIKA Virus being declared a "Global Health Emergency" adds another string to the Biotron bow, and with the results from Covid-19 pending, may just make the results even more important than we first thought, and adds further credence to MM's 'more valuable than people realize' statement! (or words to that effect)