New universal Ebola vaccine may fight all four virus species that infect humans

Infectious disease scientists report early development of a potential universal vaccine for Ebola viruses that preclinical tests show might neutralize all four species of these deadly viruses infecting people in recent outbreaks, mainly in Africa. Scientists at Cincinnati Children’s report their preclinical results in the Journal of Virology, published by the American Society for Microbiology ahead of print publication on May 9. Although still in early preclinical testing, researchers report that their data indicate that the prospective vaccine has potential to be a stand-alone protection from Ebola. It also could broaden and extend the durability of protective immunity induced by current live vaccines already being tested in clinical trials against individual Ebola virus species, said Karnail Singh, PhD, the study’s co-principal investigator in the Division of Infectious Diseases. “This could be a significant advancement in the global effort to prevent or manage Ebola outbreaks, especially if this vaccine used alone or in combination...