Research

BUSINESS STANDARD                                                                        April 27, 2015

HYDERABAD, India --Ella Foundation, which has taken up research for finding a potential vaccine for the deadly Ebola virus, today said it had successfully completed preliminary studies on the virus, which was responsible for high fatalities among humans in central Africa.

The Hyderabad-based foundation said it had completed the preliminary animal (with mice) experiments of the virus' glycoprotein with the targeted adenovirus, and the "immune response results have been good", which would be followed by toxicology tests and the subsequent clinical trials involving human beings.

Adenoviruses are responsible for respiratory infections, gastroenteritis, cystitis, and primary pneumonia in humans, and are therefore used as a clear target to understand the human immunity characteristics in laboratory. However, the efficacy of the vaccine is judged by the outcomes seen in human trials.

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http://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/ella-foundation-announces-key-outcomes-in-ebola-vaccine-research-115042700631_1.html

EUREKALERT                                                                           April 22, 2015
UNIVERSITY OF LIVERPOOL -- 
The first donations of plasma, from survivors of the Ebola epidemic in Sierra Leone, have been received by an international research team working to help tackle current and future disease outbreaks in West Africa.

The team, led by scientists at the University of Liverpool and colleagues at the College of Medicine and Allied Health Services, Ministry of Health, Sierra Leone, is investigating how plasma from Ebola survivors could help treat patients with the disease at the Ebola Treatment Unit, run by the 34th Regiment Military Hospital group in Freetown.

Dr Calum Semple, from the University's Institute of Child Health, and his collaborators developed a convalescent plasma protocol in readiness for an outbreak, such as Ebola, as part of the outbreak preparatory work of the International Severe Acute Respiratory and Emerging Infection Consortium.

The study is one of several being supported by the Wellcome Trust's platform for evaluating experimental Ebola therapeutics in West Africa.

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http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-04/uol-esd042215.php

PLOS  Current Outbreaks  by Nadia Wauquier and others                                             April 20, 2015

The initial steps of emergence and spread of a virus are critical in the development of a potential outbreak and need to be thoroughly dissected and understood in order to improve on preventative strategies. In the current West African outbreak of EVD, a unique index case has been identified, pinpointing the geographical origin of the epidemic in Guinea.

Herein, we provide an accounting of events that serve as the footprint of EVD emergence in Sierra Leone and a road map for risk mitigation fueled by lessons learned....

...Continuous active surveillance is needed and must be organized by specialized centers joined in local, regional, and international networks. Surveillance centers must be connected to public health systems and also to research teams for increased understanding and awareness to permit identification and implementation of rapid intervention strategies....

Read complete study  and see maps.

USA TODAY by Liz Szabo                                                                 April 14, 2015
Sierra Leone has begun testing an experimental Ebola vaccine, officials of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Tuesday.
                                                                                            (Photo: CELLOU BINANI, AFP/Getty Images)

The $25 million study, funded through $5.4 billion in Ebola aid authorized by Congress, will test vaccines on 6,000 "front-line workers," including doctors, nurses, burial workers and others, who are at highest risk of the disease.

But with only a handful of new Ebola cases being reported now in Sierra Leone, it may be difficult to get a clear answer on whether the vaccine actually works, the CDC acknowledges. If there are no new cases of Ebola among vaccinated volunteers, for example, researchers won't know if that's the result of the immunizations or because the outbreak has faded....