Extract prepared from the leaves of Ocimum basilicum inhibits the entry of Zika virus

: The recent Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreaks and rapid spread in tropical Latin America since introduction to Brazil in 2014, and now appearing cases in the USA, are alarming. World Health Organization (WHO) has considered transmission of ZIKV, a serious public health problem because of the increasing number of outbreaks. There are currently no drugs approved for the treatment of ZIKV infection. Discovery of safe and effective drugs are hampered by the risk in treating pregnant woman and toxicity to the fetus. Sweet basil, known as Ocimum basilicum in the scientific community, is a very well-known medicinal herb. Numerous studies have documented its beneficial activity against a great variety of human pathogens ranging from bacteria and virus to fungus and protozoans. Although, basil extracts and oils have been tested successfully against other viruses, its application to tackle ZIKV infection has not been exploited at all. In this study, we report for the first time that highly diluted ethanol extracts prepared from basil leaves can effectively inhibit ZIKV replication in Vero E6 cells with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) value of 1:134. The diluted extract as well as the amount of ethanol that goes into its preparation have been found to be completely non-toxic to the above mentioned cell line. The extract seems to inhibit the virus at the step of attachment and entry into the host cell. The specific inhibition of ZIKV observed using the basil leaf extract suggests a new alternative mode of treatment against flavivirus. Keywords: Zika virus; basil extract; antiviral.