Experimental vaccine for deadly Marbug virus guards against infection with just a single dose

An experimental vaccine for Marburg virus—a deadly cousin of the infectious agent that causes Ebola—can protect large animals from severe infections for up to a year with a single shot, scientists have found in a new study. Developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, along with collaborators at other institutions, the vaccine produces durable protection, a factor that underlines its promise for clinical translation and pandemic preparedness. So far its safety profile suggests that investigators may be on the brink of a vaccine that, in the not-too-distant future, may help control a Marburg virus outbreak. The pathogen is extraordinarily virulent, one of the most lethal in the world—an infectious agent so dangerous that it’s on lists of viruses with potential to be exploited in devastating acts of bioterrorism. It causes a severe infection that once was known as Marburg hemorrhagic fever, but now is widely referred to as Marburg...