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Researchers develop Ebola vaccine

Emergency Management Alert, August 13, 2003

Government researchers said August 6 they developed a vaccine that protects monkeys against the Ebola virus with a single dose, Reuters reports.

The vaccine was made using a new approach that the researchers expect will work against a range of other viruses, and the technology could provide a way to develop instant vaccines against new infections such as severe acute respiratory syndrome or a biological weapon.

Ebola kills between 50% and 90% of victims through massive internal bleeding, with vaccines proving ineffective against it to date. A group of researchers at the U.S. Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases began working with a common virus called an adenovirus, which can cause the common cold and more serious infections; they later added a piece of DNA from the Ebola virus, the glycoprotein. The vaccine relies on a strong immune response to the adenovirus, and the immune system recognizes Ebola by distinguishing the glycoprotein.

The researchers were surprised when monkeys given a single shot of the vaccine were 100% protected from what should have been a fatal dose of Ebola. The researchers are working on the vaccine with Dutch biotechnology firm Crucell NV. They hope to test it in humans soon. In April, an outbreak of Ebola killed more than 120 people in the Congo Republic.

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