US approves first Ebola vaccine amid West African outbreak of the deadly disease

The Food and Drug Administration has approved a vaccine against Ebola, a first for the US agency, officials announced Thursday. 

No cases of the deadly bleeding and fever disease have been reported in the US since 2014, despite the uphill battle against the outbreak radiating outward from Democratic Republic of the Congo that’s been ongoing since August 2018. 

But the disease is highly infectious and often lethal. 

Regulators at the European Commission approved the vaccine in November and two days later, the World Health Organization green lit its safety. 

Now, the US has approved Erverbo, a shot given in a single dose, for anyone over 18, as part of its effort in the global initiative to stop the disease’s spread. 

Ervebo, a vaccine against Ebola (pictured), has become the first to get US FDA approval to prevent the disease that’s killed more than 2,000 people in West Africa since 2018 (file) 

‘Ebola virus disease is a rare but severe and often deadly disease that knows no borders. Vaccination is essential to help prevent outbreaks and to stop the Ebola virus from spreading when outbreaks do occur,’ said Dr Peter Marks, of the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. 

‘The FDA’s approval of Ervebo is a major advance in helping to protect against the Zaire ebolavirus as well as advancing US government preparedness efforts.’ 

In October, a major Global Health Security Index report warned that, amid the ongoing Ebola outbreak, the US was one of 195 countries worldwide that were not prepared to handle a disease pandemic. 

The deaths of 2,220 people have been linked to the current Ebola outbreak. 

More than 3,000 people in Congo have tested positive for Ebola, which is about 50 percent fatal. 

Although the outbreak has been largely confined to the country where it began, four deaths have been reported in neighboring Uganda. 

The international community is not immune to the disease’s spread.  

Ebola spreads through blood or bodily fluids – such as saliva, semen, urine or even sweat – are inhaled, consumed or come into contact with broken skin. 

The disease’s symptoms become noticeable within 21 days of exposure, and it comes on fast. 

Typically, its first symptoms are fever, headache, sore throat, joint and muscle weakness. 

Shortly thereafter, diarrhea and vomiting and stomach pain set in. 

Also called ‘hemorrhagic fever’ Ebola causes some patients to bleed excessively, internally or externally. 

In the US, there’s no approved antiviral treatment for Ebola. Those with the disease are mostly cared for with supportive efforts, like IV fluids, oxygen, and managing the fever, blood pressure changes, vomiting and pain associated with the disease.

So far, this outbreak has not seen any cases spill over to the US. 

But it’s happened before.

The outbreak of Ebola in West African countries between 2014 and 2016 killed more than 11,00 people and two Americans that contracted the disease there returned to the disease and subsequently died. 

Health officials began testing Ervebo, which is made by Merck, in Congo last year. 

In the close study conducted of the vaccine, it was found to be 100 percent effective in preventing Ebola ‘with symptom onset greater than 10 days after vaccination,’ the FDA said in its press release. 

‘While the risk of Ebola virus disease in the US remains low, the US government remains deeply committed to fighting devastating Ebola outbreaks in Africa, including the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo,’ said Anna Abram, FDA Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Legislation, and International Affairs. 

‘[Thursday’s] approval is an important step in our continuing efforts to fight Ebola in close coordination with our partners across the US Department of Health and Human Services, as well as our international partners, such as the World Health Organization. 

‘These efforts, including today’s landmark approval, reflect the FDA’s unwavering dedication to leveraging our expertise to facilitate the development and availability of safe and effective medical products to address urgent public health needs and fight infectious diseases, as part of our vital public health mission.’      

WHAT IS EBOLA AND HOW DEADLY IS IT?

Ebola, a haemorrhagic fever, killed at least 11,000 across the world after it decimated West Africa and spread rapidly over the space of two years.

That epidemic was officially declared over back in January 2016, when Liberia was announced to be Ebola-free by the WHO.

The country, rocked by back-to-back civil wars that ended in 2003, was hit the hardest by the fever, with 40 per cent of the deaths having occurred there.

Sierra Leone reported the highest number of Ebola cases, with nearly of all those infected having been residents of the nation.

WHERE DID IT BEGIN? 

An analysis, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found the outbreak began in Guinea – which neighbours Liberia and Sierra Leone.

A team of international researchers were able to trace the epidemic back to a two-year-old boy in Meliandou – about 400 miles (650km) from the capital, Conakry.

Emile Ouamouno, known more commonly as Patient Zero, may have contracted the deadly virus by playing with bats in a hollow tree, a study suggested.

HOW MANY PEOPLE WERE STRUCK DOWN? 

WHICH COUNTRIES WERE STRUCK DOWN BY EBOLA DURING THE 2014-16 EPIDEMIC? (CDC figures)
COUNTRY                                                CASES  DEATHS DEATH RATE (%) 
GUINEA 3,814 2,544 66.7%
SIERRA LEONE  14,124  3,956  28.0% 
LIBERIA  10,678  4,810  45.0% 
NIGERIA  20  40.0% 
SENEGAL  N/A 
SPAIN  N/A 
US  25.0% 
MALI  75.0%
UK  N/A
ITALY  N/A 

Figures show nearly 29,000 people were infected from Ebola – meaning the virus killed around 40 per cent of those it struck.

Cases and deaths were also reported in Nigeria, Mali and the US – but on a much smaller scale, with 15 fatalities between the three nations.

Health officials in Guinea reported a mysterious bug in the south-eastern regions of the country before the WHO confirmed it was Ebola. 

Ebola was first identified by scientists in 1976, but the most recent outbreak dwarfed all other ones recorded in history, figures show.

HOW DID HUMANS CONTRACT THE VIRUS? 

Scientists believe Ebola is most often passed to humans by fruit bats, but antelope, porcupines, gorillas and chimpanzees could also be to blame.

It can be transmitted between humans through blood, secretions and other bodily fluids of people – and surfaces – that have been infected.

IS THERE A TREATMENT? 

The WHO warns that there is ‘no proven treatment’ for Ebola – but dozens of drugs and jabs are being tested in case of a similarly devastating outbreak.

Hope exists though, after an experimental vaccine, called rVSV-ZEBOV, protected nearly 6,000 people. The results were published in The Lancet journal. 

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