Vaccines Global Summit

Development of the Ebola Vaccine has been one of the key developments in the global battle against one of the world's deadliest viruses. The Ebola virus, scientifically known to cause severe viral hemorrhagic fever, resulted in several outbreaks, especially in Africa, where the virus was identified. It is transmitted by contact with the blood, body fluids, or tissues of infected people or animals, thus leading to high mortality and significant public health challenges. The pressure for an effective Ebola vaccine became sharply focused during the largest outbreak in the history of the world-the 2014-2016 West Africa Ebola outbreak. The disaster spurred intense global research efforts, and several candidates for vaccines have now been produced. The best candidate developed thus far has been the rVSV-ZEBOV, which received the go-ahead for use upon emerging from clinical trials with strong proof of protection against the virus. It is a live, attenuated vesicular stomatitis virus genetically engineered to express a protein from the Ebola virus, thus causing an immune response but not causing the disease itself.

The vaccination campaigns in the regions with outbreaks of Ebola also prevented the virus's spread. In emergencies, for example in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the rVSV-ZEBOV vaccine has been used to vaccinate frontline health care and other at-risk populations. High efficacy of the vaccine has been demonstrated against Ebola virus disease, particularly in a ring vaccination approach, that is, by vaccinating the contacts of a confirmed case. Ongoing research is geared towards developing more Ebola vaccines that will provide cross-protection against a broader range of Ebola-related strains. In addition to discovering long-term immunity, these advances may become crucial in ensuring that future outbreaks do not spread because they are contained promptly and effectively by protecting vulnerable populations.

The success of the Ebola vaccine is an indication of further investigations and preparedness in the control of new emerging infectious diseases that threaten global health.