Two Ebola vaccines have passed some hurdles

Two new rapid-acting Ebola vaccines have passed over hurdles: They have protected monkeys against the strain of the deadly virus that caused the recent outbreak in West Africa. The vaccines worked against Ebola in one dose and appear to have no side effects. The test involved macaque monkeys because monkeys are closely related to humans. The monkeys that were vaccinated showed no signs of adverse reactions to the vaccines. When they were injected with the Ebola virus from the current outbreak in West Africa, they did not become ill. Unvaccinated monkeys injected with the Ebola virus died within a week. Safety trials in people will be started early this summer. These two vaccines have been put on a fast track for human use because they appear to be so effective. They are being developed by Profectus BioSciences. There are vaccines against Ebola that are already in human trials, but one of the ones...