US researchers have reported that an experimental vaccine did well to protect monkeys against the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS). University of Pennsylvania researchers exposed rhesus macaques to the MERS virus six weeks after administering the synthetic DNA vaccine in them. They detected no threat of MERS in them.

The vaccine also gave rise to production of potentially protective antibodies in blood from camels, known as the source of MERS transmission in the Middle East.

Results of the study have been published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. More than 1,300 infections have been identified in the Middle East, Europe, South Korea and the United States since it was identified in 2012. Of them, 400 have succumbed to the deadly infection.

“The significant recent increase in MERS cases, coupled with the lack of effective antiviral therapies or vaccines to treat or prevent this infection, have raised significant concern. Accordingly, the development of a vaccine for MERS remains a high priority”, said study author David Weiner, a professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the university's Perelman School of Medicine.

Study first author Karuppiah Muthumani said in the news release that the non-live experimental vaccine is free from the risk of unintended spread of the virus.

The vaccine holds great promise of overcoming important production and delivery issues, added Muthumani, a research assistant professor of pathology and laboratory medicine at the Philadelphia-based university.