The World Health Organization said clinical trials of a preventative vaccine for the Ebola virus made by British pharma company GlaxoSmithKline may begin next month and made available by 2015.
"We are targeting September for the start of clinical trials, first in the United States and certainly in African countries, since that's where we have the cases," Jean-Marie Okwo Bele, the WHO's head of vaccines and immunisation, told French radio.
Ebola Virus Disease
Ebola is caused by a virus via direct contact with body fluids or infected blood. Scientists have identified five types of Ebola or Ebola hemorrhagic fever virus.
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He said he was optimistic about making the vaccine commercially available. "We think that if we start in September, we could already have results by the end of the year.
"And since this is an emergency, we can put emergency procedures in place ... so that we can have a vaccine available by 2015."
There is currently no available cure or vaccine for Ebola, a virus that causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.
![Quiz on Ebola]( "Quiz on Ebola")
Why is the deadly Ebola virus outbreak making the health experts hit the panic button? Find out from this quiz.
It has claimed close to 1,000 lives in the latest epidemic to spread across west Africa this year. Fatality rates can approach 90 percent, although the latest outbreak has killed around 55 to 60 percent of those infected.
Several vaccines are being tested, and a treatment made by San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical, ZMapp, has shown promising results on monkeys and may have been effective in treating two Americans recently infected in Africa.
Source: AFP
There is currently no available cure or vaccine for Ebola, a virus that causes severe fever and, in the worst cases, unstoppable bleeding.
Quiz on Ebola
Why is the deadly Ebola virus outbreak making the health experts hit the panic button? Find out from this quiz.
Advertisement
It has claimed close to 1,000 lives in the latest epidemic to spread across west Africa this year. Fatality rates can approach 90 percent, although the latest outbreak has killed around 55 to 60 percent of those infected.
Several vaccines are being tested, and a treatment made by San Diego-based Mapp Biopharmaceutical, ZMapp, has shown promising results on monkeys and may have been effective in treating two Americans recently infected in Africa.
Source: AFP
Ebola Epidemic an International Health Emergency: WHO
The World Health Organization has declared that Ebola epidemic is sweeping across western Africa, where it has killed nearly 1,000 people, causing an international health emergency.
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 US Authorities Loosen Restrictions on Experimental Ebola Drug for Testing on Infected Patients in AfricaA Canadian company revealed that American health regulators have loosened restrictions on another experimental drug for treating the infection. | Advertisement
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