United States: gorilla cured of Covid-19 thanks to antibodies

While a group of gorillas at the San Diego Zoo in California had been infected with Covid-19 on January 11, one of them has just been treated with an experimental antibody treatment. This was announced by the association managing the zoo on Monday, January 25, 2021.

On January 11, the San Diego Zoo in California, United States, announced the contamination of several of its gorillas. Among them, a 48-year-old western lowland gorilla named Winston was the first case of natural transmission of Covid-19 to great apes. He would have been contaminated by an asymptomatic employee, who however wore gloves. As a reminder, having a DNA close to that of humans (for example, the chimpanzee has 98% of its DNA in common with humans), great apes are known to be sensitive to human viruses such as influenza or even chickenpox.

In a press release from the San Diego Zoo Global, the managing association of the zoo, we learn that the ” the group (of gorillas) was infected with a new, highly contagious variant of the coronavirus which was recently identified in California “. Several gorillas have shown symptoms of a mild cough, a stuffy or runny nose, and episodes of lethargy.

This Monday, January 25, 2021, the San Diego Zoo has just announced that Winston the gorilla has been treated thanks to an experimental treatment based on synthetic antibodies. Suffering from pneumonia and heart disease, he was treated with a cocktail of heart medications, antibiotics and antibodies ” monoclonal “. These are synthetic antibodies injected intravenously which aim to mimic the natural functioning of the immune system. According to the team of animal care workers who take care of this old gorilla, “ the antibodies may have contributed to his ability to overcome the disease “.

For information, an antibody-based treatment ” monoclonal Was already approved in November in the United States, where it had been used experimentally in October 2020 to treat former President Donald Trump. However, the antibody treatment that the gorilla received is a treatment that cannot be used on humans, as the zoo pointed out. Now, the San Diego Zoo Global is examining the possibility of vaccinating other animals with a treatment based on a synthetic version of the surface protein of the virus, intended for animal use.