First Ebola vaccine trial starts on African soil
Play
Bamako (dpa) - Three people in Mali were injected with an experimental Ebola vaccine, the first such trial on African soil, the Health Ministry said Friday.
The volunteers were among 40 Malian health workers who agreed to participate in an international trial of the cAd3-EBO-Z vaccine, which was developed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the eastern US state of Maryland.
The trial vaccine was previously tested on chimpanzees and was found to stimulate an immune response in the apes against the Ebola virus.
"We should be able to have very preliminary safety results and even some immunology results by the end of November," said Samba Sow, director general of the Centre for Vaccine Development in the capital, Bamako.
It is expected to take several months before small amounts of the vaccine will be available, Sow said.
