European scientists announced Thursday, June 23 they had found antibodies which attack Zika, a discovery they hope will pave the way for a protective vaccine against the brain-damaging virus, AFP says.

The antibodies -- frontline soldiers in the immune system -- "efficiently neutralize" Zika in human cells in lab dishes, and are also effective against its cousin virus dengue, the team reported.

The discovery "could lead to the development of a universal vaccine" against both diseases, they hoped.

The Zika-zapping molecules were obtained from people who had previously been infected with dengue and whose immune systems had produced antibodies to fight that disease, AFP says.

"The antibodies could be used, for example, to protect pregnant women at risk of contracting the Zika virus," said Felix Rey, a virologist at France's Institut Pasteur who co-authored the twin studies, published in Nature and Nature Immunology.

"We never expected to discover that the dengue virus and the Zika virus are so close that some antibodies produced against the dengue virus could also neutralise the Zika virus so potently," he added.

But Rey cautioned that a working vaccine is likely far off.

"There is a lot still to be done, notably to conduct a clinical trial. This may take some time."