Ebola virus persistence and disease recrudescence in the brains of antibody-treated nonhuman primates survivors

The persistent EBOV infection in the outbreak survivors during 2018 to 2020 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has been detected in testes, eyes and brain, despite clearance of EBOV from the blood and other organs. In this report, it was shown that rhesus macaques were survived from EBOV infection for 30 days by treatment of monoclonal antibody therapy. The EBOV persists in macrophages infiltrating the brain ventricular system of these animals. One survived monkey had died with recrudescence associated with the EBOV persistence due to the neurological disease. This study implicates the importance of long term follow-up after recovery from EBOV disease.