A novel oral drug may protect unvaccinated people who are exposed to measles from getting sick and prevent them from spreading the virus to others, an international team of researchers said Wednesday.

Like the flu, measles spreads through the air by breathing, coughing or sneezing. There is typically a two-week window between becoming infected with the virus and the onset of symptoms like skin rash, runny nose and fever.

The novel drug, termed ERDRP-0519, is specifically designed to work during this two-week window, when vaccination can no longer protect from disease.

"This post-exposure therapy application determines the desired characteristics of the drug, which are: orally available, cost- effective manufacture and ideally, high shelf stability," corresponding author Richard Klemperer, professor of Georgia State University, told reporters at a press telebriefing.

"With these criteria in mind, we have developed over the past years a small molecule drug that blocks the measles virus RNA polymerase enzyme, which is essential for replication of the virus. "

The researchers tested the drug in ferrets infected with canine distemper virus, which is a close relative of measles virus.

They found that all of the infected ferrets treated with the drug survived the lethal infection, showed no clinical signs of disease and developed a robust protective immune response.

The drug could be used to treat friends, family and other social contacts of a person infected with measles virus, who have not developed symptoms yet but are at risk of having caught the disease, Plemper said.