Ebola Threat may Have been Subsided, But Vaccines Still Needed- Says Expert

[internet police]

BOOK INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS TICKETS LOCAL FLIGHTS HOTELS BOOKINGS WORLDWIDE AND MORE AT CHEAPEST RATE EVER! CLICK HERE TO BOOK YOUR FLIGHT AND RECEIVE YOUR FLIGHT TICKET INSTANTLY

Loading...

The World Health Organization has declared the Ebola emergency over, but action still is needed to fully develop effective vaccines and prepare the world for future outbreaks, experts said Thursday.

Great progress has been made in Ebola vaccine development in the last two years, according to a report by an international panel of infectious disease experts, but this "could grind to a halt as memories of the outbreak in West Africa begin to fade."

"The job is still not done," said Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust global health charity, which co-led a report on the world's progress toward Ebola immunization. The trust in August 2014 had created a research fund for clinical trials. 

"As Ebola infection rates come under control, it's a huge concern that complacency sets in, attention moves to more immediate threats and Ebola vaccine development is left half-finished," Farrar warned.

The WHO said Tuesday that West Africa's Ebola outbreak ? which began in Guinea in late 2013 and killed more than 11,300 people in almost 20 months ? no longer constitutes a threat to international public health.

During the epidemic, a total of 13 Ebola vaccine candidates ? including different combinations of shots ? were tested in early- and mid-stage clinical trials.

Several drugmakers, including Johnson & Johnson, Merck and GlaxoSmithKline, moved potential Ebola vaccines well into the clinical trial process. Three late-stage or so-called Phase III trials were initiated in Africa: one each in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Trials of one vaccine, Merck's rVSV-ZEBOV, progressed far enough to show in trials that it is safe and effective, prompting GAVI, the global vaccine alliance, to buy 300,000 doses as a stockpile for use during future Ebola outbreaks.