Chinese scientists have made some progress in discovering a breakthrough against the deadly Ebola virus following the outbreak in West Africa in March 2014.

In a research published on Thursday, Jan. 14 in the journal Cell, scientists claim to have uncovered a new way the virus invades the human cells, thus offering a new pharmacological development. They found that the virus tends to stay in the semen of men for up to nine months.

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According to Gao Fu, deputy director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention and also researcher at the Institute of Microbiology, there is no existing clinically approved drug in the market against Ebola yet. And since no one knows when the next Ebola outbreak will be, there is a need for in-depth research to determine its true mode of transmission and infection. 

In addition, the drugs currently used against the virus only relieves the disease's symptoms including fever, diarrhea and headache. Although clinical trials are still ongoing, just one vaccine has been developed.

According to co-author Qi Jianxun, discovering the methods that the virus enters its host would pave the way to drug development. This process of attempting to inhibit virused from getting inside the cell on a molecular level, has been proven effective. For instance, the development of Tamiflu against influenza virus like H1N1 and H7N9.

"Our team started to study the Ebola virus in 2011. ... There are chances that we can develop a drug ahead of other teams in the world,"  co-authors Wang Han and Song Jian said.

TagsEbola Virus, Cell journal, Research