Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)

DATE=11/21/03

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=EBOLA VACCINE (L-O)

NUMBER=2-310108

BYLINE=KIM LEWIS

DATELINE=WASHINGTON

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: A registered nurse has made medical history as the first human volunteer to test an experimental Ebola vaccine. Thirty-six-year-old Steve Rucker was injected with a vaccine created by researchers at the Vaccine Research Center at the National Institutes of Health, who say the trial is a major step in developing an effective vaccine against Ebola. The need for such a vaccine is highlighted by the recent outbreak of the disease in the Mbomo region of the Republic of Congo. V-O-A's Kim Lewis has a report from Washington.

TEXT: Outbreaks of Ebola in Africa kill up to 90 percent of those infected. Ebola is a highly infectious disease that causes extensive internal bleeding and rapid death. There is no effective treatment once a person has the disease. Experts say the best strategy is a vaccine that will prevent people from getting the disease. The director of the Vaccine Research Center, Dr. Gary Nabel, headed the team of scientists that developed the vaccine.

/// NABEL ACT ///

The vaccine that we just began human trials on is a candidate that we hope will contribute to protection against Ebola. We have studied this particular vaccine up to now on animal models, and we found that it confers remarkable protection against a lethal challenge by Ebola virus. So the studies we have just begun represent the first steps in asking whether the vaccine can work similarly in people.

/// END ACT ///

Steve Rucker received the vaccine on November 18th. He said he looked at all of the potential risks, but because there is an Ebola epidemic, he wanted to do it right now.

/// RUCKER ACT ///

If I can do a small part in making that a preventable disease, that's pretty much a no brainer (a simple choice). It was a privilege to be able to do it. It seemed to be a low risk vaccination, and everything has gone fine.

/// END ACT ///

Dr. Nabel said it would take a couple of years to determine whether there are any side effects from the vaccine.

/// 2nd NABEL ACT ///

If all goes well, we hope in another three years or so, we will have a vaccine that could be available to people in the Republic of Congo. I would say, too, that we would be thinking, perhaps, of doing trials within countries like the Republic of Congo, because we can find out more quickly, if the vaccine works, if we do the trials in a place the disease actually occurred.

/// END ACT ///

Dr. Nabel says the proposed trials would focus on healthcare workers in Central Africa, since they are at an increased risk of being infected by the Ebola virus. (SIGNED)

NEB/KLEWIS/KL/TW