Global health R&D at work in Oregon
Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University are developing what could become the first-ever treatment for chikungunya, a mosquito-borne disease that causes debilitating joint and muscle pain. The research team has discovered an antiviral compound that has shown promise in reducing the virus and joint symptoms in animal studies, which they next plan to advance into human clinical trials. There is currently no approved specific treatment for this virus that has infected an estimated 3 million people in the Americas since it arrived in the Caribbean several years ago.