Kenyan research agency says Ebola vaccine safe, effective

A candidate Ebola vaccine has demonstrated a high degree of efficacy, safety and could deal a final blow to the hemorrhagic fever that has killed some 10,000 people in West Africa.

Results from the phase one trial of the Ebola vaccine rVSV ZEBOV released by Kenya's Medical Research Institute (KEMRI) on Thursday revealed its capacity to protect humans from the killer disease.

"Our studies on 138 volunteers have shown the Ebola vaccine is safe and has potential to offer protection against the disease. The vaccine will be tested further in countries affected by the epidemic," KEMRI Director Solomon Mpoke said in a statement released in Nairobi.

The Phase one trial of the rVSV ZEBOV vaccine was carried out in the Kenyan coastal town of Kilifi and three other sites in Switzerland, Germany and Gabon.

Kenya was selected to be part of the World Health Organization (WHO) led consortium funded by Wellcome Trust to undertake in- depth trials on the Ebola vaccine.

Researchers said that 138 volunteers who received the jab did not reveal any side effects.

"The candidate vaccine was also able to raise antibody responses that neutralized Ebola like virus particles in the laboratory. This is a milestone in the war against a killer disease," said Mpoke.

The research findings on the Ebola vaccine trials in Kenya, Germany, Gabon and Switzerland were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

According to Kenyan researchers, the vaccine will undergo trial in Guinea to ascertain its capacity to protect individuals at risk of infection.

The WHO said Ebola has killed an estimated 10,000 people in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. A consortium of public and private bodies has financed the development of an Ebola vaccine. Endi