Health Matters: Experimental Ebola Vaccine

The Ebola outbreak has killed 1,500 people in West Africa, but starting next week federal researchers will begin using an experimental vaccine to potentially prevent the virus. According to the associated press, the national institutes of health announced today that it is launching a safety trial of an Ebola vaccine on humans, developed by the national institute of allergy and infectious diseases and glaxosmithkline. 20 healthy adult volunteers will be injected with the vaccine to see if the virus is safe and triggers a positive response in their immune systems. The testing will take place in NIH's Maryland campus and if all goes well, testing will continue later this September on volunteers from the United Kingdom, Gambia and Mali. American health officials are also talking about the possibility of a test trial in Nigeria.