The Ebola Virus is Spreading Across West Africa in The Largest Outbreak To Date
Mortality rates are currently at 60%, where normally up to 90% of affected people die. Unfortunately, there are no cures or vaccines for the disease, despite its emergence in 1976.
In March of this year, cases of Ebola were reported for the first time in Guinea, Western Africa. Notably, these outbreaks took place in Guinean districts that bordered Sierra Leone and Liberia. In the past, outbreaks have taken place in remote areas of Africa, but this outbreak has had the opportunity to cross border and spread throughout Western Africa, and it has done just that. Now fourth months since the March outbreak, 1,093 people have been infected and there have been a reported 660 deaths attributed to the deadly virus (source: CNN vital signs.)
The biology of the virus also makes it difficult to develop vaccines that create an adequate immune response as there are multiple strains of the virus, meaning an immune response is needed against all of them. To complicate matters, Ebola’s ability to replicate rapidly could mean the virus may rapidly evolve resistance against a vaccine.
The development of a vaccine as Ebola poses an ethical issue, since multi-strains virus require to develop a vaccine for all of them (multi-strain vaccine). Failing to do this can lead to a false sense of safety and increase the risk of mortality. However similar vaccines are in process like the dengue vaccine. Time to come up with a new vaccine will take several years to go through the different phases
Maybe passive immunity with strain-specific recombinant antibodies might be a interim solution?
- Badges
- Science topic