VACCINE PROTECTS MONKEYS FROM EBOLA WebPosted Thu Nov 30 15:19:20 2000 GULU, UGANDA--As the latest outbreak of Ebola seems under control in Uganda, researchers have announced a new vaccine that seems to protect monkeys against the deadly virus. In the journal Nature , scientists describe how they exposed eight macaques to Ebola. Four of the monkeys were also given the vaccine. Those four survived, the others contracted Ebola and died. More than six months after being exposed, the vaccinated monkeys remain symptom-free with no detectable virus in their blood. Ebola usually kills up to 90 per cent of those it infects. Few viruses are more feared than Ebola. Although other viral diseases claim more lives each year, the rapid and nightmarish deaths caused by Ebola have made the search for a vaccine an important goal for scientists. The push for a vaccine was spurred on by the fact that known antiviral drugs used on other viruses don't work on Ebola. Nor is environmental control an option, as scientists don't know where in nature the virus 'hides' while not infecting and killing host humans. Researchers at the National Institutes of Health, NIH, led the study. "Doctors have essentially been helpless against Ebola virus," says lead researcher Dr. Gary Nabel. But, says Nabel, they knew that animals can launch an effective immune response against the virus. They used their knowledge of this response to design a vaccine. Now that they've had some success with primates, this vaccine model can be used to develop an injection suitable for humans. Ebola virus kills quickly, giving the body little time to launch an effective immune response. Infected individuals suffer severe pain, high fever and extensive internal bleeding. Ebola is named after the town in Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo, where it was discovered 24 years ago, possibly after leaping the species barrier from animals. It is one of a family of so-called filoviruses. Copyright © 2000 CBC All Rights Reserved |