EbolaHigh security Australian laboratory advancing Ebola research

With the Ebola epidemic still a threat, many in the international disease research community are searching for a cure.

One such laboratory is a high-security facility in Geelong, Australia. It focuses exclusively on Ebola research and testing, particularly the Zaire strain of the virus, which has ravaged Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone.

As SBS reports, a small team of scientists work in a specially constructed, maze-like building with top security and training, seeing as if just one specimen made it out of the lab, the consequences could be deadly. Coordinated through the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), the lab is the latest hope in finding a cure.

Led by Dr. Glenn Marsh and his small team of five scientists, they are using live specimens — a rare occurrence — in order better to understand and treat Ebola illness.

“We’re the only laboratory in the country that have the live virus and can work with the live virus,” said Marsh, “And, it’s a truly special capability that Australia has to contribute to the global effort to prevent and to understand these disease and I’m not sure that’s always understood. This facility is unique, globally.”

As for focusing on the Zaire strain, that decision was made even before the latest outbreak, just pure luck.

“We didn’t predict the current outbreak but we do know the Zaire strain, there’s also the Sudan strain and the Bundibugyo strain in Africa that have all caused outbreaks. So, it is known that Ebola can cause large outbreaks, just not on the scale we’re seeing this year,” he added.

Additionally, the team is investing in new ways to track and understand their subject, including using bats.

“I think the last count was over 100 different viruses were identified in bats so many of the viruses that are carried by bats we probably don’t even know about yet,” said Dr. Michelle Baker, a senior researcher at the laboratory, “And, there might be a potential virus that will have an impact in the future and if you can understand how bats are controlling these viruses, I think there’s potential…not just [for] Ebola, down the track.”

Still, despite the horrific consequences of Ebola, Marsh adds that the overall limited number of outbreaks of the disease throughout the world has made vaccine development difficult due to a lack of commercial potential. So, the team is also looking at ways to construct a cheap vaccine.

“If we can find easier ones to manufacture or ones that are more stable at higher temperatures [that would be good],” added Marsh, “If you think about a vaccine being deployed in Africa, transporting that vaccine frozen, large distances may be difficult so somebody could develop a vaccine that …may be more suited for that area of the world.”