DARPA’s INTERCEPT developing adaptive medical countermeasures to protect soldiers from viral diseases like Zika & Ebola.

The viral diseases like Zika. Ebola. Dengue. Influenza. Chikungunya pose serious health threats to U.S. troops, as well as to civilian populations in the United States and around the world, says DARPA. Vaccines exist for but a few of these infectious diseases. And since these viruses have an uncanny ability to mutate and morph as they reproduce inside their hosts, those few vaccines that do exist are quickly outdated, providing little protection against the latest viral strains. That’s why flu vaccine manufacturers, for example, must produce new versions annually, at enormous expense and with variable year-to-year efficacy. The goal of the INTERCEPT program is to develop viral therapies that are effective against a broad spectrum of viral strains, and that can co-evolve and outpace new strains.