A vaccine against the Ebola virus, pictured here in a transmission electron micrograph, protected four monkeys against an injection with the deadly microbe.
Scientists hope to begin human studies soon.
Scientists may be one step closer to developing a vaccine for the dreaded Ebola virus, a deadly microbe that periodically attacks African villages and can kill up to 90 percent of the people it infects within a very short time. Dr. Gary Nabel, director of the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health, reports in the latest issue of Nature that a vaccine he has helped develop prevented macaque monkeys infected with the Ebola virus from dying a horrifying and painful death. The researchers, including members of the Special Pathogens Branch at the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, say four vaccinated monkeys were completely protected from a lethal dose of the virus. The animals have been symptom-free with no detectable virus in their blood for six months after they were infected. Our studies show animals can launch an effective response against the Ebola virus and we can use knowledge of this response to design a vaccine that protects nonhuman primates from infection.