[ti:US Approves First Treatment for Ebola Virus] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) [00:04.56]has approved the world's first treatment for the deadly Ebola virus. [00:12.04]The treatment, Inmazeb, [00:14.48]is a combination of three genetically-engineered antibodies. [00:20.80]The company Regeneron Pharmaceuticals developed it to treat both young [00:27.12]and old patients with the virus version called Zaire Ebola. [00:34.68]It is the deadliest kind of Ebola known to infect humans. [00:41.16]Zaire Ebola usually kills 60 to 90 percent of patients. [00:49.28]FDA officials announced the approval of Inmazeb on Wednesday. [00:56.48]The Zaire Ebola virus can spread easily through direct contact [01:02.72]with body fluids of infected people or animals. [01:08.08]Signs of the disease include increased body temperature, [01:12.88]pain, stomach sickness, kidney and liver damage, and bleeding. [01:20.32]People who provide care to infected individuals [01:24.44]are at highest risk of contracting the virus. [01:29.60]Regeneron's drug was one of four tested [01:33.48]during a Zaire Ebola outbreak in Congo between 2018 to 2019. [01:42.48]The outbreak killed almost 2,300 people. [01:48.04]Regeneron received support from the U.S. [01:51.56]National Institutes of Health and international health agencies. [01:57.68]The study involved 681 people infected with the virus. [02:04.48]After four weeks, about one-third of 154 patients [02:10.88]who received Inmazeb had died. [02:14.40]Similar results were reported for a group that got a different drug. [02:20.96]But, about half the patients died among the other two groups [02:26.36]given one of the other two drugs. [02:31.04]The study ended early last year so all patients could get Inmazeb. [02:38.00]Leah Lipsich leads Regeneron's infectious diseases program. [02:44.04]She said, "When you have three drugs that bind to the (virus), [02:49.28]there's a low probability that the virus can evade all of them." [02:55.76]Lipsich noted that the FDA's approval [02:59.48]will make it easier for the company to get permission [03:03.56]to use the drug during outbreaks in African countries. [03:09.12]George D. Yancopoulos is Regeneron's chief scientific officer. [03:15.52]He said the drug maker is using the same technology [03:20.08]to develop an antibody drug to treat COVID-19. [03:24.84]He said in a statement, "we hope this will be one of many demonstrations [03:32.04]of how the power of science can be successfully deployed [03:37.00]against dangerous infectious diseases." [03:41.24]The antibody combination technology has also been used [03:46.20]to develop drugs to treat HIV, the cause of AIDS. [03:52.04]Regeneron and drug maker Eli Lilly are now asking the FDA [03:58.20]to permit emergency use of experimental engineered antibody medicine [04:04.20]to treat patients with COVID-19. [04:08.84]The FDA approved the first vaccine for Ebola last December. [04:16.00]That drug, Ervebo, is made by Merck. [04:19.68]I'm Caty Weaver. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM