A protein that helps transport cholesterol inside cells may be a key to developing drugs to treat Ebola, a rare but lethal virus for which there are no known treatments, US researchers said.

Laboratory mice bred to produce low levels of this protein – known as Niemann-Pick C1 – survived exposure to both Ebola, which causes a haemorrhagic fever, and its cousin, Marburg virus.

“The discovery also improves chances that drugs can be developed that directly combat Ebola infections,” said the statement.