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  • The current Ebola outbreak in Western Africa is the largest that humanity has ever experienced.

  • Will we ever have a vaccine for this scary disease?

  • Hey this is Carin for DNews. The ongoing Ebola epidemic in several Western African countries

  • continues to dominate news headlines - for good reason. In today’s global society the

  • potential for spread of a virus like this is massive. Ebola is easily transmissible

  • between humans through bodily fluids - even minute amounts of sweat or saliva can result

  • in viral transfer, which is why those that are at the highest risk of contracting it

  • are health-care providers and family members of those already sick.

  • There is currently no cure for Ebola, between 50 and 90% of those that catch the virus will

  • die from it. Those that manage to fight through the infection generally do so through supportive

  • health care measures like blood pressure and oxygen maintenance, and medications to control

  • fever, allow the blood to clot and to prevent other infections. There is currently no available

  • vaccine for Ebola, although a study recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy

  • of Sciences shows that scientists are making significant progress in developing one for

  • wild Gorillas and Chimpanzees.

  • You may not know that Ebola is actually one of the leading killers of wild apes. It has

  • actually killed overof the worlds gorilla population, leading to their status as critically

  • endangered. Because the Ebola virus spreads so easily, conservationists generally support

  • vaccine development, even though theyre potentially dangerous. They involve administering

  • small doses of the offending bacteria or virus to the body so that our immune systems can

  • mount an appropriate response. This way, we become pre-emptively prepared in case we ever

  • come into contact with the pathogen again.

  • This is where it’s tricky to develop vaccines for diseases like Ebola. There is NO amount

  • that is safe to administer to apes or humans. However, scientists have produced what seems

  • to be an effective Ebola vaccine by using a ‘Virus-like particle’, a fragment of

  • viral coat protein. Since a fully replicating virus is not being transferred this is a much

  • safer way to make use of the natural immune reactions in the animals receiving them. Studies

  • in the past have demonstrated that this virus particle vaccine is both safe and effective

  • in macaques, one of our primate cousins. But the vaccine was recently administered to chimpanzees

  • and was found to be safe as well!

  • Just to be clear: chimpanzees were NOT challenged with the Ebola virus. They were inoculated

  • with the particle vaccine in order to see if it was safe for their bodies and to see

  • if they could mount a suitable immune response. And they could. Antibodies harvested from

  • vaccinated chimps were transferred to mice, who were then challenged by the ebola virus.

  • The mice were protected.

  • Ok, so this is HUGE news for wild ape populations world wide; and it’s potentially good news

  • for humans too. The NIH has just announced plans to fast track this vaccine and two others

  • to phase 1 clinical trials this September. It seems like the use of viral particle vaccines

  • represents a very promising technique for protecting us from deadly pathogens like Ebola.

  • What do you think? Should we be putting more effort into developing an Ebola vaccine? Let

  • us know in the comments below and click here to subscribe for more DNews every day of the

  • week.

The current Ebola outbreak in Western Africa is the largest that humanity has ever experienced.

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