Development of an Antiviral Screening Protocol: One-Stone-Two-Birds

As prophylactic therapies and vaccines against viral infections continue to improve, drug resistant strains are continuing to arise; therefore it is imperative to develop new therapeutics against these diseases. For highly pathogenic viruses, such as Ebola and H5N1 influenza virus, the need for antivirals is even more urgent due to limited therapeutics against these viruses. Furthermore, the high pathogenicity of such viruses often makes it difficult to work with such agents. In this report, we describe a protocol called "One-stone-two-birds" which provides a safe and efficient screening system to identify anti-flu (entry) and anti-HIV (replication) activities. Using plant extracts as an example, we demonstrate the utility of this protocol in antiviral screening.