ebola

Experimental Ebola vaccine could stop virus in West Africa

Friday, July 31, 2015

In this Tuesday, June 30, 2015, file photo health workers wash their hands after taking a blood specimen from a child to test for the Ebola virus. — In this Tuesday, June 30, 2015, file photo health workers wash their hands after taking a blood specimen from a child to test for the Ebola virus in Monrovia, Liberia.
kgo-AP Photo/ Abbas Dulleh, File

LONDON -- An experimental vaccine tested on thousands of people in Guinea exposed to Ebola seems to work and might help shut down the ongoing epidemic in West Africa, according to interim results from a study published Friday.

There is currently no licensed treatment or vaccine for Ebola, which has so far killed more than 11,000 people since the world's biggest outbreak began last year.

If proven effective, the vaccine could be "a game-changer," said Dr. Margaret Chan, Director-General of the World Health Organization, which sponsored the trial.

In some 4,000 people who received the vaccine within 10 days of being identified as an Ebola contact, there were no cases of the disease. That compared with 16 cases in more than 3,500 people who only got the shot after 10 days.

For full coverage on the Ebola crisis, click here.