Compound previously used as antibiotic

Researchers from a southeastern Spanish university announced the discovery of a molecule that could be used as a potential drug to fight the effects of a Zika virus infection.

In a statement on Saturday, the San Antonio Catholic University of Murcia said that scientists belonging to its Bioinformatics and High-Performance Computing research group had found that a compound previously used as an antibiotic countered the symptoms of the mosquito-borne disease, Efe news reported.

“It’s a drug that had been withdrawn from the market because it had lost its potency as an antibiotic, but we know it can be administered to humans,” said Jose Pedro Ceron, a member of the research team.

The molecular structure of the proteins involved in the Zika virus’ replication process was first described only a year ago.