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Graphical abstract. Credit: DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2021.07.033 A multi-institutional team led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center has isolated monoclonal antibodies that in laboratory and animal studies prevented infection by alphaviruses, including the often-lethal Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV). EEEV, which infects the central nervous system of humans, horses and other animals, is the most virulent encephalitic alphavirus. Although only a few human cases are reported annually in the United States, the fatality rate exceeds 30%, and there are no approved vaccines or antiviral drugs to treat it. These results, reported in the current issue of the journal Cell, represent new...

Enlarge Image Harboring trouble. A new study suggests venomous cottonmouths may harbor Eastern equine encephalitis virus through the winter. Credit: iStockphoto/Thinkstock Every year as the days grow warmer, the Eastern equine encephalitis virus (EEEV) reemerges along the eastern coast of the United States, where it causes devastating disease in horses and, more rarely, humans. Scientists have long wondered how the virus, which is transmitted by the bite of an infected mosquito, survives the cold, mosquito-killing North American winters. Now, a new study suggests that snakes harbor the virus through the winter, but experts disagree on whether the finding clinches...