America Gets Ebola Vaccine
Aug 07, 2003
The United States has developed an experimental vaccine capable of protecting monkeys from Ebola.
By Charles Wendo
and agencies
The United States has developed an experimental vaccine capable of protecting monkeys from Ebola.
The new development is a major breakthrough in fighting one of the worst viruses known to man, the US government announced on Wednesday.
In 2000, Ebola infected 428 Ugandans, killed 170, left more than 60 partly disabled and created more than 500 orphans.
The new vaccine to be tested in human beings, gave monkeys protection from Ebola infection only four weeks after a single jab. All four monkeys injected with the vaccine resisted Ebola while the other four that did not receive the vaccine died.
“This research has enormous public health implications not only because it might be used to limit the spread of Ebola virus but also because this vaccine strategy may be applied to other highly lethal viruses,†Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said.
“After years of developing candidate Ebola vaccines that protected rodents but failed in primates, it is gratifying to have a vaccine that holds great promise for protection of humans,†said Peter Jahrling, a researcher at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
The vaccine requires one shot. Although it has not yet been tested on humans, scientists insisted that medicines effective on primates usually have a high likelihood of working on humans.
Ends
and agencies
The United States has developed an experimental vaccine capable of protecting monkeys from Ebola.
The new development is a major breakthrough in fighting one of the worst viruses known to man, the US government announced on Wednesday.
In 2000, Ebola infected 428 Ugandans, killed 170, left more than 60 partly disabled and created more than 500 orphans.
The new vaccine to be tested in human beings, gave monkeys protection from Ebola infection only four weeks after a single jab. All four monkeys injected with the vaccine resisted Ebola while the other four that did not receive the vaccine died.
“This research has enormous public health implications not only because it might be used to limit the spread of Ebola virus but also because this vaccine strategy may be applied to other highly lethal viruses,†Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said.
“After years of developing candidate Ebola vaccines that protected rodents but failed in primates, it is gratifying to have a vaccine that holds great promise for protection of humans,†said Peter Jahrling, a researcher at the US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases at Fort Detrick, Maryland.
The vaccine requires one shot. Although it has not yet been tested on humans, scientists insisted that medicines effective on primates usually have a high likelihood of working on humans.
Ends