A single drug may be an effective therapy for a number of different viral diseases such as Ebola and rabies, a new study published in Cell Chemistry and Biology.

John Connor - a virologist at the University of Boston, USA, and co-author of the article, explains that his research team study the vesicular stomatitis virus, a close relative of the Ebola virus, but not as deadly. It turns out that several viruses, including rabies, mumps, vesicular stomatitis virus and NICA (deadly pathogen spread by bats) use the same method to reproduce in human cells. This led scientists to start looking for a substance that can stop the replication process of these viruses.

The result - the first broad-spectrum antiviral compound that stops the playback of a variety of viruses through disruption of the synthesis of viral ribonucleic acid. Although up to a medicinal product used in humans will probably take at least several years of laboratory research and as many clinical studies, the discovery is a major breakthrough in anti-infective and, in particular - antivirus, therapy with the potential to change the treatment of many of the most serious viral diseases.