Vaccine for Ebola virus being tested
EDINBURGH, Scotland (UPI) -- U.S. and Canadian researchers are finding success in primates with vaccines to prevent the Ebola virus. Dr. Anthony Sanchez of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta said one of the candidate vaccines is about to be tested on people for the first time. "The biothreat posed by Ebola virus cannot be overlooked. We are seeing more and more naturally occurring human outbreaks of this deadly disease. With worldwide air travel and tourism, the virus can now be transported to and from remote regions of the world. And it has huge potential as a possible weapon of bioterrorism," Sanchez said in statement. "We desperately need a protective vaccine." Ebola hemorrhagic fever has a 90 percent mortality rate and there have been more than 1,500 cases in humans, Sanchez said. The Ebola virus is so dangerous only a very limited number of high containment facilities and staff are authorized to conduct Ebola virus research. Sanchez is presenting the findings at the Society for General Microbiology meeting in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Copyright 2008 by United Press International
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