Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Ebola vaccine shows promise
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AN experimental Ebola vaccine developed in Winnipeg could eventually become the key to stopping outbreaks of the deadly virus.
Dr. Frank Plummer, scientific director at Winnipeg's National Microbiology Lab, said the vaccine will likely become the standard defence for scientists involved in lab accidents with Ebola. He said it also may be the tool scientists eventually use to control outbreaks of the hemorrhagic fever.
The experimental vaccine was recently sent to Hamburg, Germany from Winnipeg, after a research scientist accidentally pricked herself with Ebola virus while working in the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine.
It marked the first time the vaccine was tested on a human, and so far, the scientist shows no signs of Ebola fever.
Previously, the vaccine had only been tested on animals.
There is no cure or vaccine for Ebola, and between 50 and 90 per cent of people who contract the virus die. The virus can cause a hemorrhagic fever, which is spread through direct contact with an infected person's blood or through sexual contact.
Although it's not known for certain whether the German researcher infected herself, Plummer said about 90 per cent of laboratory accidents involving Ebola result in fatalities.
He said more tests need to be done on the vaccine before it can be used to control outbreaks to bring it up to regulatory standards, but that the preliminary results are promising.
"Potentially, it could be used to stop an epidemic," he said, cautioning that more tests need to be done on humans to ensure it's safe.
"We don't know what the risks are, entirely, from the vaccine. It's a live virus."
Plummer said the vaccine can't cure someone who has developed symptoms, but it has been shown to stop the infection in animals exposed to the virus.
Ebola is classified as a Level 4 pathogen -- a category that includes the world's most dangerous viruses.
Winnipeg has the only Level 4 biocontainment lab in the country and there are few labs in the U.S. and elsewhere that can safely study Ebola.
Last year, Winnipeg scientists helped develop a "safe" form of Ebola that is about as dangerous as a common flu bug.
Scientists genetically altered the live virus so more scientists could safely study it.
The altered virus can be studied in a lab without biohazard suits or airtight chambers.
Although lab accidents involving deadly pathogens such as Ebola are rare, Plummer said there is usually one every two or three years.
"It may become standard practice for lab accidents," Plummer said.
-- with files from Associated Press
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition March 30, 2009 A3
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