U.S. scientists have developed a vaccine that protects monkeys from Ebola with a single shot and could be eventually used to defend humans against biological terrorism, the Washington Post reported today (see GSN, July 17).

“In terms of what we need for countermeasures against terrorism, it’s highly significant,” said Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.  “This could be a real advance in our ability to contain Ebola,” he added (Justin Gillis, Washington Post, Aug. 7).

Scientists at the Dale and Betty Bumpers Vaccine Research Center at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases collaborated to conduct the research over the past three years, the BBC reported yesterday.

The scientists gave eight monkeys a booster shot, then injected them with the Ebola virus. The single injection protected all eight monkeys against Ebola — even those who received high doses of the virus.

If the vaccine proves to be effective in humans, it could be used to stop the spread of Ebola through a strategy known as ring vaccination — vaccinating everyone who has been in contact with an infected person — the same technique that was successfully used to eradicate smallpox worldwide (BBC Online, Aug. 6).

Since the 1970s, Ebola has killed hundreds of people in Africa and possibly tens of thousands of endangered apes (James Janega, Chicago Tribune, Aug. 7).

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