Disappointment over Ebola vaccine as virus ‘mutates’

Ebola researchers say they are a ‘tad disappointed’ at Ebola vaccine trials as scientists in Guinea warn the virus has mutated. Independent experts said that while the vaccine has been deemed safe, it did not perform as well as they would have liked. A total of 60 healthy volunteers were inoculated at Oxford University’s Jenner Institute between September 17 and November 18 last year. Findings published in New England Journal of Medicine show the experimental vaccine was well tolerated in three different doses. Two volunteers experienced a moderate fever which passed within a day. But scientists in Guinea are warning that the disease could actually be becoming more more contagious, according to the BBC. Human geneticist Anavaj Sakuntabhai said: ‘We know the virus is changing quite a lot. That’s important for diagnosing [new cases] and for treatment. We need to know how the virus [is changing] to keep up with our enemy. ‘We’ve now seen several cases...