Researchers
confirmed that two new Ebola vaccines have been proven to protect monkeys
from the strain of the deadly virus without any side effects. However,
the vaccines have not been tested on humans yet. Older vaccines have traditionally caused side
effects such as fever and joint and muscle pain. Thomas W. Geisbert, an Ebola
expert at the University of Texas in Galveston, stated that human
trials of the new vaccines will begin in the summer. These recent vaccines were
made by the company Profectus BioSciences, which received $55 million to conduct research on Ebola vaccines. The vaccines are made from the vesicular stomatitis
virus (V.S.V), which causes an oral disease in cattle but rarely infects
humans. In the Ebola vaccines, V.S.V is engineered to make a
protein from the surface of the Ebola virus; this protein communicates with the immune
system and assists it in recognizing and fighting off the Ebola infection. Future studies will soon
show the effectiveness of these new vaccines.
Grady, Denise. "2 New Ebola Vaccines Pass Important Early Test, Researchers Say." The New York Times. The New York Times, 08 Apr. 2015. Web. 20 Apr. 2015. .
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