The Zika flavivirus that broke out as an epidemic in Brazil in 2015 and spread to 70 countries in the world, made an appearance in India in late May this year. With no treatment and/or vaccine available for the mosquito-borne disease, Zika is as strong as ever and the people just as vulnerable to its attack. However, in a breakthrough discovery, scientists have found a group of naturally occurring compounds in an Australian native plant that can effectively kill the Zika virus.Tests confirmed the compounds halted the virus and stopped it from replicating without damage to host mammalian cells, researchers said.
"Our plaque assays found that the extract from this fairly common native plant killed 100 percent of the Zika infection in cells," said lead researcher Trudi Collet from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia. "It is also exciting because of the implications of…
