Scientists have made a groundbreaking discovery that could revolutionize the fight against COVID-19. Researchers have found a unique class of antibodies, generated by llamas, that are highly effective against a wide range of SARS coronaviruses, including the one behind COVID-19 and its future variants.

These llama-derived antibodies target an essential region at the base of the virus’s spike protein, effectively shutting it down and preventing the virus from infecting cells. The findings, published in Nature Communications, offer a promising route to developing broad-spectrum antiviral treatments that could remain effective against future viral variants.

The current SARS-CoV-2 vaccine is designed to target specific regions of the virus’s spike protein, which can mutate quickly, leading to resistance. However, the new llama antibodies focus on a more stable subunit of the spike protein, making them harder for the virus to evade.

A team led by Prof. Xavier Saelens and Dr. Bert Schepens at the VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology discovered that these llama antibodies act like a molecular clamp, locking the spike protein in its original shape and preventing it from unfolding into the form needed to infect cells. The researchers tested the antibodies in lab animals and found strong protection against infection, even at low doses.

Furthermore, when they attempted to force the virus to evolve resistance, it struggled, producing only rare escape variants that were much less infectious. This points to a powerful treatment option that could be hard for the virus to evade.

“This region is so crucial to the virus that it can’t easily mutate without weakening the virus itself,” explains Schepens, senior author of the study. “That gives us a rare advantage: a target that’s both essential and stable across variants.”

This discovery marks a significant advancement in the quest for durable and broadly effective antiviral therapies, offering hope for treatments that can keep pace with viral evolution.

“The combination of high potency, broad activity against numerous viral variants, and a high barrier to resistance is incredibly promising,” adds Saelens. “This work provides a strong foundation for developing next-generation antibodies that could be vital in combating not only current but also future coronavirus threats.”

The recent global outbreak of mpox, a disease caused by the monkeypox virus, has raised concerns about its transmission dynamics. Historically, most human infections have resulted from zoonotic transmission – from animals to humans – but during the 2022 global outbreak, the virus began spreading readily between people. A new study published in Nature has now shown that the virus was circulating long before then.

Using genomic tracing, researchers estimated that the virus’ ancestor first emerged in southern Nigeria in August 2014 and spread to 11 states before human infections were detected in 2017. The findings highlight the need for improved global surveillance and medicines, given the threat of impending pandemics.

“We could have very easily prevented the 2022 multi-country outbreak if countries in Africa were given better access to therapeutics, vaccines, and surveillance technologies,” says Edyth Parker, a professional collaborator in the Kristian Andersen Lab at Scripps Research and one of the paper’s first authors. “In a vulnerably connected world, we cannot neglect epidemics until they get exported to the Global North.”

The study’s senior author, Christian Happi, director of the Institute of Genomics and Global Health at Redeemer’s University in Nigeria, organized a Pan-African consortium to share and generate mpox genomic data. The consortium involved researchers and public health agencies in West and Central Africa, with support from international collaborators including Scripps Research.

By pooling samples and laboratory methods, the group generated a genomic dataset that is around three times larger than any previous mpox dataset. Altogether, the team analyzed 118 viral genomes from human mpox cases that occurred in Nigeria and Cameroon between 2018 and 2023. All of the sequences were identified as Clade IIb – the mpox strain endemic to West Africa.

The researchers created a phylogenetic tree, which estimates how related the different viruses are, and how recently they evolved. They found that most of the viral samples from Nigeria were the result of human-to-human transmission (105/109), while the remaining four were caused by zoonotic spillover. In contrast, all nine mpox samples from Cameroon were derived from isolated zoonotic spillover events.

“Mpox is no longer just a zoonotic virus in Nigeria; this is very much a human virus,” says Parker. “But the fact that there’s ongoing zoonotic transmission means there’s also a continual risk of re-emergence.”

The team estimated that the ancestor of the human-transmitting mpox virus emerged in animals in November 2013 and first entered the human population in southern Nigeria in August 2014. They also showed that southern Nigeria was the main source of subsequent cases of human mpox: though the virus spread throughout Nigeria, continual human-to-human transmission only occurred in the country’s south.

The study highlights the need for better wildlife surveillance, as well as better surveillance in the human populations that interface with animals in that forested border region. It also emphasizes the importance of better access to diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics in Africa.

“Global health inequities really impede our ability to control both zoonotic and sustained human transmission,” says Parker. “We cannot continue to neglect either the human epidemics in Africa or the risk of re-emergence – not only does it perpetuate suffering in these regions, it means that inevitably there will be another pandemic.”

Hantavirus has been making headlines as the cause of death for Betsy Arakawa, the wife of actor Gene Hackman. However, little is commonly known about this insidious virus beyond its connection to rodents. Recent research by Virginia Tech scientists has shed light on the biology of hantavirus and its rodent hosts in North America.

Using data from the National Science Foundation’s National Ecological Observatory Network program, the researchers identified three hotspots of hantavirus circulation in wildlife: Virginia, Colorado, and Texas. They also discovered 15 rodent species as carriers, including six previously unknown host species.

The study’s findings are timely, considering hantavirus is considered an emerging disease with pandemic potential. The symptoms of hantavirus infections can resemble severe COVID-19 cases. In Asia, hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome is caused by the Hantaan virus; in Europe, the Dobrava-Belgrade virus causes a similar syndrome; and in North and South America, hantavirus pulmonary syndrome is caused by Sin Nombre virus and Andes virus – all hantaviruses.

Hantaviruses can reach mortality rates similar to those of high-concern diseases like Nipah and Ebola. Little is known about the ecology of hantaviruses in wildlife except that they are spread through inhalation of aerosolized excreta, urine, or saliva from asymptomatic rodent hosts. The virus can be fatal in humans.

The Virginia Tech team used data to gain a better understanding of hantavirus circulation in its sylvatic cycle – the pathogen’s life cycle in wildlife. They examined environmental influences and geographical distribution of the rodent hosts. The researchers collected and tested 14,004 blood samples from 49 species at 45 field sites across the United States from 2014-19.

The discovery of six new rodent species as hantavirus hosts is significant. Some of these newly discovered hosts inhabit regions where traditional hosts are absent, meaning they could be potential reservoirs of the virus in new or overlooked areas. This expands our understanding of the basic biology of the virus and shows that it is more adaptable than previously believed.

The researchers also gained a better understanding of seasonal trends and effects of seasonal weather shifts on hantavirus transmission. Warmer winters and increased precipitation can increase rodent populations, while drier conditions can facilitate the generation of contaminated dust containing particulates from rodent excrement and saliva. Climate change can cause population increases or distributional shifts of rodents, altering the epidemiology of hantavirus.

The actual number of human cases of hantavirus infections is largely unknown because many infections remain silent. The researchers plan to further explore the extent to which climatic variations influence hantavirus transmission in wildlife and in humans. They believe that many lessons learned from this study can be generalized to other wildlife diseases, considering their global distribution.